Building On The Foundations
by AmazonGold
Summary: Guilty Alice (By NTT Solmare) Fanfic: Sequel to Blue Heart. Now the issues to do with her trial are over and done with, Dee falls into life with her new friends. But strange things are happening in Wonderland, can they figure things out before it's too late to act?


Dee was in her bedroom; she was packing up the last few of her things into a cardboard box. She was moving out today, into a much bigger split-level apartment a couple of blocks away. The woman picked up a wooden music box with a nostalgic smile, lifting the catch and opening the lid. The brass cylinder inside turned and plucked the metallic comb to produce the familiar notes of a lullaby, while a small ballerina twirled away.

Dee's mother used to play this for her to help her sleep when she was a child, she'd hold Dee close to her as they sat on an old rocking chair together. Just hearing the song was enough to make the woman feel safe and warm inside. Dee ran a finger over one of the hinges that had broken when she dropped it some time back but it had been fixed to such a high standard that the repair was completely seamless.

She closed the box again and wrapped it up carefully in newspaper and placed it into the box. Next Dee reached for a stained glass jewellery box and she couldn't help smiling. _'When I first bought this six months ago, I could never have imagined what adventures lay in store for me.'_ She wrapped up the box and put it away before looking down at the matching key that was hanging around her neck. Her life had been completely turned upside down when she first went to Wonderland, but she wouldn't change it for the world.

"Hey Dee! You finished saying bye to the old place?" The door opened and Bill walked in. "We've started taking things down to the van but we really need to put the bed in first." There were more cardboard boxes piled up behind him and Dee could see Joker and Mad carrying her couch and Noir had grabbed the coffee table.

"Oh right! Let me get out of the way then." She picked up her box and took it off the bed. The carpenter headed into her room followed by Ash. "Think you can carry that between the two of you? Need me to help?" Dee offered as the pair of them started by taking the mattress off the bedframe.

"No, we've got it, thanks. But if you could take the headboard off the frame while we take this down then I'd appreciate it… There's a wrench in my pocket." Ash asked her, looking like he wasn't having any problem with the heavy double mattress at all. Dee put her box down and walked up behind him, reaching her hand in to one of Ash's jeans pockets. "No no! I meant in my hoodie, not my trousers!" The Mouse had jumped in shock, almost dropping his end of the load, which made Bill laugh loudly.

"I had no idea you were so forward, Dee!" The Lizard grinned as the woman reached into the pouch of Ash's blue top and pulled out the wrench.

"Quiet, hippie, or I'll throw this at you." Dee told him as she moved out the way so the two of them could take the mattress out of the room. She pulled the bedframe away from the wall so she could get to the back of the headboard. It was a wooden fabric upholstered piece that was bolted to the frame in several places. Dee used the wrench to loosen the nuts quickly, but when she removed the last one, the headboard fell on to her with a crash.

"Dee! Are you ok? What was that noise?" Dee heard someone call to her and the sound of footsteps coming into the room.

"Is that you, Sakuto? Help! I'm trapped between the headboard and the wall!" She heard the sound of the White Prince pulling the bedframe out further before he lifted the heavy wooden board off her and put it aside. "Phew! Thanks for that! …Don't worry, it didn't hurt me." Dee said in anticipation to Sakuto's next question as she got to her feet.

"Well that's good to hear then… Cardia! Are you free to help me with this bedframe?" Sakuto called out to the living room and the brown haired card soldier appeared in the doorway.

"No problem, I was just taking the shelves out of the freezefridger thing anyway." Cardia answered as Dee bit on her lip to hide a chuckle at his mispronunciation.

"Sorry to make you help me move on your day off." Dee told him apologetically, she knew the Red Queen could be stingy with time off but the soldier just shook his head at her.

"Don't worry about it, I wanted to help out. Plus, an extra pair of hands should make everything easier after all." Cardia answered as he went and picked up the metal bed frame with Sakuto, looking back over his shoulder carefully so he didn't collide with anyone or anything. Dee collected the nuts and bolts and put them in a small sandwich bag and taped it to the headboard so they didn't get lost.

Between the guys, they managed to get all the big furniture items down to the van before an almost endless procession of people with cardboard boxes began to follow. Noir had decided to be the one to put everything into the back of the removal van. He was obsessively fitting things together so there were no gaps to limit the chances that things could fall and break in transit.

Dee was still upstairs and looking at her empty flat, it looked so much bigger now it had been stripped bare. A part of her felt a little sad at leaving this apartment, this was where she'd built a life for herself and where her heart had started to heal from its past wounds.

"Dee? We're all packed up and you're the only one who can drive the van." Joker had come up to get her and found her standing in the middle of the barren living room. "Are you ok?" He asked Dee at seeing her looking a little melancholy.

"Yeah, I am. It's just every new beginning means something else has to come to an end. I was taking a moment to remember all the good times I had here." Dee gave him a bittersweet smile and Joker nodded in understanding. He came over and stood next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, but I really think you've outgrown this place. It was good when it was just you, but now you've got all of us too. You'll really be able to spread your wings in the new place." He told her as he gave her shoulders a squeeze.

"I had no idea you were such a poet at heart, Joker." Dee told him with a half teasing smile, but she appreciated the sentiment behind his words. The flat was spick and span, Mad had used his magic to do the final clean up once they'd removed everything, so that was one less thing to do. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and separated out the ones for the old apartment. "Come on, let's lock up and post the key into the landlord."

Back downstairs there was an argument brewing about who would get to sit up front with Dee and who had to ride in the back with all the boxes and furniture.

"Come on, there's no need for us to bicker like children." Sakuto gently admonished everyone. Mad and Cardia always seemed to wind each other up, no matter what was happening around them, but the prince's words made them both quiet down finally. "Only three people can fit in the front seats, including Dee, so let's be mature about this… Ash, you said you were ok with going in the back?"

"Yep, I'll probably take a nap." Ash nodded with a tired yawn; he'd done a lot of the heavy lifting today because he was the strongest. But the Mouse was the only volunteer, everyone else wanted to ride up front. They were still at an impasse when Dee and Joker came back out after having locked up the old flat and dropped off the key.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Noir, Cardia, you two don't get to come to my world as often as the others so you're both up top with me. The rest of you need to pile in the back, I'm afraid, but it's only a short trip." Dee twirled the van keys on her finger as she immediately put an end to the debate that she hadn't known they were having.

There were a few discontented grumbles from Mad and Bill but Joker and Sakuto bundled them into the van after Ash. Dee climbed into the driver's seat while Noir and Cardia climbed in the passenger side, the woman having to show them both the proper way to put on a seatbelt.

"Is your new place very far from the dorms?" Noir asked Dee as she started the van and pulled off. The Wonderland boys hadn't seen any reason to stop using the accommodation the Red Queen had provided for them once the 'Heart' situation had been resolved some months back. It served their purposes well as a base where they could come back to after doing their own thing in this world.

"It's about the same distance away from it, just in a different direction. I didn't want to go anywhere too far, being able to walk over to your place when I want to is handy." The woman answered him as she kept an eye on the road. "There's only one spare bedroom over there though, what are you both going to do tonight?"

"Depending on how late we get done, I might just head back to Wonderland so Noir can have the sixth room. If not, I'll take the couch." Cardia answered her, though he suddenly spotted something that made him gawk. "That person has wheels on their feet! Were they born like that?!"

"No, they are just wearing roller blades, the wheels are on the boots, not her feet. It's a fun way to get around, especially for people too young to learn how to drive." Dee informed him with a smile on her face, promising to tell Cardia more later as they pulled up to her new apartment block. She turned off the engine and hopped out, heading to the back of the van and opening it.

"Everyone survive ok?" Dee asked the boys; they were alright but they didn't look like they'd had a particularly comfortable ride. Well, except for Ash, he was stretched out asleep with his arms behind his head like he was having a nap in a field, not in the back of a removal van. Dee grabbed his foot and gave it a shake to wake him. "Come on, we're here. I can't wait to show this place to you guys."

This apartment building was taller than the previous one so they had to pile into the two lifts to head up to the fifteenth, and top, floor. Dee had finally decided to buy a flat outright, she wasn't afraid to allow people to see her wealth anymore. She knew her friends didn't care about her money, they cared about her as a person… and anyone that tried to take advantage of her would be thrown out the nearest window before they could blink.

"You actually bought a penthouse flat, I thought you were joking around when you said that." Noir commented in surprise as he readjusted his grip on the box of dinnerware that he was carrying. Dee just grinned mischievously at him as she unlocked the door to apartment number 55, throwing the door open dramatically.

"Tada!" She declared as she walked into the spacious open plan living/dining area. There was hardwood flooring laid everywhere and their footsteps echoed loudly throughout the empty room. The far wall was all window glass to give a brilliant view out over the city, with a large balcony accessible through a pair of sliding doors.

"This room is bigger than our whole place put together!" Bill exclaimed in shock as he looked around. "Where's the bedroom? I've got a box of bedding right here." Dee beckoned the former thief to her and the pair of them went up a set of stairs near the front door, they came out on the second level which stretched over half of the floor below.

"So that's what split-level means!" Mad said with an impressed whistle as he looked up at Dee and Bill while they lent on the railing and waved down at them. "Is the bathroom up there? Ash has a box of towels."

"There's an ensuite with a toilet, sink and shower up here but the main bathroom is that door behind Sakuto. It's so nice, it's got a shower *and* a bathtub!" Dee pointed from the bedroom level. Ash turned to head that way and tripped over his own feet, falling on his face with a clatter. "…Annnnd this is why we give Ash the non-breakable things." The warrior jumped back to his feet with a sheepish look and picked up the box that he'd squashed underneath him.

"So, what's this room for?" Joker had opened another door leading off the main area. "A spare bedroom?" Dee had come back down the stairs to join them.

"That or maybe a study, I haven't made my mind up yet. Why? You angling to move in?" Dee teased Joker with a grin, jumping backwards with a laugh when he mock swiped at her.

"Being serious, this is an amazing place to live. All of your current things would only fill one small corner of it." Sakuto approached the windows and slid open the door, letting a cool breeze in. "This view is going to be amazing when the sun sets. Ash might move on to your balcony just to see the stars." Noir had dropped his box in the kitchen, there was a fitted kitchen complete with built in oven and a downdraught hob built into a counter island that faced into the room.

"I can already sense the great many cakes that will come into existence in this place." The Black King ran his hand over the glossy granite that the kitchen counters were made out of. "Come on, guys, let's get the rest of Dee's stuff up here."

"We might have trouble getting the mattress and the bedframe in the magic moving box though." Cardia said with a frown and a small shake of his head.

"We can squish the mattress in, it'll be fine. Might have to take the frame apart but we'll see how it goes." Bill answered him with an easy going smile. The Lizard had jumped down from the upper level without bothering to use the stairs. "And it's called a lift, it's not magic, it's mechanical."

The other Wonderland boys were veterans of her world when compared with the card soldier. He was married to his job so he didn't often get time to visit the Alice world, in fact, it was his workaholic tendencies that had had a hand in making Cardia's budding romance with Dee fizzle out after only a few dates. But the pair of them had formed a firm friendship instead, and given the choice, the woman would pick friendship over love any day.

Between the eight of them, they managed to get all the furniture and boxes into the flat. Even with all Dee's worldly possessions in situ, the flat looked ridiculously empty. Dee was making everyone some tea in her new kitchen having dug out her kettle and mugs out of one of the boxes.

"Do you want us to stay and help you unpack things?" Mad offered as he took the cup he was given. There weren't enough stools for them all to sit at the counter island so Dee made a mental note to buy a few more.

"No, it'll be faster for me to do it myself, no offence. I already know where I want everything to go. I won't be in Wonderland tonight either, I want to enjoy my first night in my new place." Dee told them before she grinned at them, reaching into a cupboard and pulling out a basket of homemade muffins. "I made these yesterday and hid them here last night in anticipation of a job well done. Thank you so much for your help today, guys. Moving is supposed to be really stressful but you all made it look easy."

"You're very welcome, Dee, we were glad to help." Sakuto gave her a bright smile as he took one of the muffins from the basket. "Promise me you won't try and move any furniture by yourself if you don't like the placement?" The blood drained out of Joker's face when he heard that, the thought not having previously occurred to him.

"I second that! What if something fell on you? We'd notice if we hadn't heard from you for a while but there's no telling how long that could take." Joker's overprotective streak was on show again and Dee refrained from rolling her eyes at him but she nodded her agreement.

"Well I know it's not traditional to do a toast with a tea cup, unless you're Mad that is, but I'd like to propose one." Noir had stood up from his stool with his mug. "Dee, congratulations on your new place. I hope you have many happy years here! Cheers!" There was an echoing chorus of 'Cheers' as everyone clinked their cups together before going back to the muffins.

* * *

Dee opened her eyes and yawned, she was sitting in a green glade in a forest. _'Huh? I'm almost certain I locked my jewellery box before bed. Why am I in Wonderland?'_ She thought to herself as she got to her feet. That was when she noticed her clothes, she was wearing a light blue dress, cinched around the waist with a white pinafore. _'These aren't my normal clothes. Is this an actual dream then?'_

A flutter of wings caught her attention and a bird landed on a nearby branch. It looked like a small parrot with mostly green plumage but there were colourful splashes of blue, yellow and red too. The bird was clearly watching her so Dee decided to try and talk to it.

"Hello there, are you a parrot?" She approached the bird slowly and asked in a low voice. The bird didn't answer her, maybe this really was a normal dream. Dee waited a bit longer for a reply but the bird just bobbed it's head at her and flapped it's wings.

"You really do have beautiful feathers, whoever you are…" She commented as she took a few steps closer to the bird and she reached out her hand slowly in an attempt to stroke it. But the bird suddenly lunged at her and nipped her finger with it's beak.

"OW!" Dee sat bolt upright, and for a second, she had no idea where she was before she remembered. "Oh right, new flat." The woman looked down and saw there was no bite mark on her hand. _'That's odd, I know I felt that bird chomp down on my finger… But I guess it was just a normal dream after all... Looks like I dream of Wonderland even when I don't go there.'_

Dee checked her phone, Bill would be here soon, the pair of them had got into the habit of running together three times a week. The Lizard would meet her out front then the pair of them would usually do a lap of the park. Dee had been trying to find a fun way to keep her weight down and Bill was a health and fitness freak so it worked out rather well.

Seeing as she had a few minutes before she had to get up, Dee decided to put the words 'Types of Parrots' into Google. It was clear from the images that came up that the bird in her dream had been a lory, otherwise known as a lorikeet in the same way parrot was a shortened form of parakeet. _'I must have known that already, otherwise how else could I dream about it?'_

Half an hour later and Dee was standing outside her apartment building. It was a cold; dark morning and she was jogging on the spot to keep her muscles warm when she spotted Bill running towards her.

"Sorry I'm late! I was halfway to your old place before I remembered you moved." The green haired man told her when he got to her.

"That definitely sounds like you, Bill." Dee teased him with a laugh as she blew into her hands to warm them up. "Let's get moving before I freeze to death, now I understand why people find it so hard to keep up their fitness regimes in winter."

"Not me! I can go for a run on any day and in any weather!" Her friend answered as the two set off, their running paces syncing together from lots of practice. There weren't many people out at this time of morning, usually just dog walkers and other runners like them so it was pretty peaceful. "How was your first night?"

"Fine, though I did have an initial 'where the hell am I?' moment when I woke up." Dee didn't mention her odd dream, the only thing more boring than hearing about someone else's dreams was hearing about someone else's holiday. "Got everything unpacked last night and fell into bed at a stupid time of the morning."

"That explains why you're so sluggish today then... Race ya to the park gates!" Bill challenged her before bolting off like a shot and Dee chased after him with a laugh. She couldn't catch the Lizard when it came to speed, even if they set off at the same time, she still wouldn't have a chance. "Beat you! What's that now, 15 to nil?"

"You are *such* a terrible winner!" Dee admonished him with a half smile as she caught up with him and the pair set off on their lap around the park at their normal pace. The sun was beginning to break out over the horizon but the two were always careful to run with the sun behind them so they didn't get blinded by the light.

The friends had fallen into a companionable silence and were about halfway through their lap when Dee stood on a patch of wet and decomposing leaves and her foot slipped. She went down heavily on her left knee but she caught herself on her hands so she didn't fall on her face.

"Dee! Are you ok?" Bill asked in alarm as he squatted down next to her in concern. The woman closed her eyes with a wince as she tried to get to her feet. The carpenter put his hands under her armpits and hauled her upright but kept a hold of her so she didn't lose her balance. "Can you walk?" Dee brushed the paving grit and grime off of her grazed palms before hesitantly putting her weight on her left leg.

"Ah! Ow, my knee! God damnit, that really hurts!" Dee said as she gripped on to Bill's arms to stop herself from falling over when she instinctively flinched and removed her weight from her injured leg when she felt the pain. There was a bench nearby and Bill helped Dee to half hop/half hobble over to it. The former thief knelt down in front of her once she was seated and rolled her joggers up carefully so he could get a look at the knee.

"Good news is you've not broken the skin, but you're gonna have one hell of a bruise. I'm tempted to take you back to our place and let Mad have a look at this, you might have cracked the kneecap, you went down that hard…" Bill told her as he pressed gently around her knee but Dee found herself having to bite down hard on her lip so she didn't swear at him. "…In fact, let's do that. Come on, I'll give you a piggyback." He pulled her to her feet and made sure she was balanced before turning his back to her and leaning down a touch because he was taller than her.

"I suppose I should be glad that there's not many people around to see me like this." Dee put her arms around Bill's neck and he stood up properly, putting his hands under her legs. "Ouch! Stupid knee! It even hurts to bend it."

"Even more reason to let Mad take a look at it then." The green haired man said, making sure he had a good grip on her as he set off at quite a fast pace, despite the fact he was carrying Dee. "Hold on tight and don't talk or you'll bite your tongue."

They got to the guys' place in next to no time, Bill unlocking the door with one hand and pushing the door open with his shoulder. The apartment was quiet, in fact it seemed to be empty except for Ash sleeping across the couch.

"Hey Ash! Wake up so I can put Dee down there!" The carpenter booted the sofa and the Mouse woke up with a start, he blinked up at them in confusion. "Move up... Is Mad in his room?" The warrior sat up and Bill turned around and let Dee slide off his back carefully, he dragged the coffee table closer so she could put her injured leg up on it once she had sat down and taken off her shoes.

"Mad's not here, he went back to Wonderland to have tea with his older sister. What happened?" Ash looked at Dee in worry while Bill grumbled to himself and went to see what he could dig up to use for first aid.

"I'm a genius who slipped on a patch of leaves while we were out running. Landed hard on my left knee and I can't walk on it right now." Dee explained to him, pulling up her joggers gingerly so she could check it. "Wow, it's swollen up really badly on the way back." The mouse warrior lent forward and had a look at it with a frown, then Bill came out of Sakuto's room with a small jar.

"If you see Sakuto before I do, tell him I only went into his room for his healing cream. I'm sure he'll be fine with it but still." The Lizard sat down on the coffee table, lifting Dee's leg and resting it in his lap before unscrewing the cap on the jar. "This stuff is amazing; it'll fix you right up. I used it when I sprained my elbow playing squash last week. You don't even have to use much of it and it works in less than an hour."

Bill scooped a small amount of the cream onto his fingers and started to rub it into Dee's injured knee. Initially his touch made her wince and she shut her eyes against it but opened them again in surprise when Ash took her hand in his.

"Squeeze my hand if it hurts." He offered with a small smile. Dee was about to return that smile when Bill pressed right on her kneecap and she hissed and squeezed Ash's hand hard, much harder than she'd intended to do.

"Sorry! I'm nearly done!" The carpenter apologised as he made sure to rub the salve into the whole of the knee before he declared. "There! The pain should start easing soon enough. I'm gonna put this back and wash my hands." Bill gently lifted Dee's leg from his lap and put it back on the table carefully. Dee released Ash's hand when she realised that she was still holding it.

"I didn't crush your fingers, did I? That hurt a bit more than I was expecting." Dee asked him, looking a little shamefaced. Ash gave an amused huff and shook his head at her.

"No, don't worry about that, I barely felt it. Can I get you something to drink? We've got some fresh orange juice." The Mouse offered as he stood up… and very nearly walked into Dee's outstretched leg. Ash caught himself at the last second but the woman had jerked her leg back instinctively in anticipation and then hissed in pain. "I'm so sorry! I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I just did that!"

The grey haired man went around the other side of the table and pulled the orange juice out of the fridge and poured out a glass. He also dug around in the cupboards and found a packet of chocolate chip cookies that he'd been saving and brought them over with the juice.

"See? This is the reason I have to go running with Bill." Dee commented when she saw the cookies, trying to show Ash that there were no hard feelings. That made the warrior smile finally and he put the glass down on the table and handed Dee the packet of cookies. "The pain is already much better, that cream is good stuff."

Ash nodded with a smile, pleased to hear that as Bill came out of his room, having changed out of his running gear. He walked over to Dee and looked at her knee, nodding in satisfaction at seeing the redness and swelling was beginning to go down. The Lizard sat down on her other side and grabbed the remote to put on the tv, switching to the sports channel.

The three of them sat watching a rugby match together. Dee was pleased to notice her knee getting better rapidly until all the pain was gone, so she rolled down her trouser leg and took her foot off of the coffee table. At seeing that Ash stood up from the couch with a stretch.

"I'm going to head to Wonderland…" The Mouse told them. The Wonderland natives were able to travel between the worlds at will, using their 'totem'. A totem was an object from Wonderland that could act as a bridge between there and the Alice world. For example, Dee's totem was her jewellery box, Mad's was a teapot (obviously), Sakuto used a favourite book of his, Bill's was a carved wooden tree, Joker had a small red rose brooch, Ash's was a hand embroidered pillow, Noir used his mother's ring and Cardia's was a medal of honour.

The totems were specially created by a magician for the person in question. The twins were the only ones without their own totem so they couldn't come to this world unsupervised. The system of totems used less power than opening a direct gate every time to cross over.

"Planning to help out in Santorina today, I assume? I'll see you later then, I was going to go there and make myself useful tonight." Dee informed him, getting a nod from the Mouse in return. The guys' totems existed simultaneously in both worlds, they simply had to hold the totem and will themselves to cross over. Though the rules were slightly different for Dee, she was only able to go to Wonderland if she slept in the same room as her unlocked jewellery box, not being born in Wonderland made visiting it a little harder for her.

Ash gave her a smile and a wave before heading into his room, leaving her with Bill. The carpenter was focused on watching the match and Dee felt like her late night was catching up with her as her head began to droop. _'I'll just take a short nap…'_ She thought to herself as she lay down and curled up on one half of the couch with a yawn.

* * *

That night in Wonderland found Dee pushing a wheelbarrow of bricks through the streets of Santorina's eponymous capital. The city already looked completely different from her very first visit. The ruined buildings and broken stonework were the first things to be cleared away before being replaced with brand new houses. Things had come a long way in just six months, it wouldn't be long before the rebuild was finished.

The fact Gentiana was funding the restoration efforts was certainly helping, plus many denizens of Wonderland had volunteered their time and skill to help out the Mouse clan. Bill had been having the time of his life, building several houses from scratch and he was currently working on a small schoolhouse.

Sakuto had appointed a few trusted guardians from Gardenia to come and live in Santorina once it was built because there were currently more children than there were adults to take care of them. Everyone wanted to give the Mice the best chance at re-establishing themselves in Wonderland, first in their capital city then the rest of their country.

Dee dropped her wheelbarrow load off where a young mouse was building a garden wall. Hauling around heavy bricks was hard work and the woman was feeling the heat. She was glad she decided to wear a strappy top under her t-shirt today as she pulled her outer layer off and tied it around her waist before grabbing her now empty wheelbarrow to go and get some more bricks. Dee hadn't got far when she heard someone shouting to her.

"Since when do you have a tattoo?!" Joker came jogging over to her, wearing painting overalls, and stood behind her to get a look at the tattoo on the back of her right shoulder blade.

"Oh, I got that when I was sixteen. The carnation represents my mother, the rose represents my father and the fact that they are both white signifies death." Dee stood still so Joker could get a better look, the two flowers had their stems entwined with one another and they had a black and purple ribbon tied around them.

"Ah, so it's a tattoo of remembrance, I see…" The crimson eyed man said with an understanding nod. "Just goes to show that you very rarely wear anything except jeans and t-shirts because this is the first time I'm seeing it and we've known each other for a while now."

"You're not the first person to say that to me before but it's what I feel comfortable wearing." Dee answered as she turned around to face him, clenching and unclenching her hands in discomfort. "I fell and grazed my hands earlier today and pushing around this wheelbarrow isn't helping matters much." Joker frowned as he grabbed her right hand to have a look at it.

"You say you fell over but this looks like a bite mark on your finger right here." He commented and Dee immediately remembered the dream she had woken up from this morning… but there hadn't been a cut there earlier. "Why don't I take over the brick deliveries and you go plant the flowerbeds in the memorial garden? That should be easier on your hands." Joker offered as he let her go, Dee agreed with a grateful smile.

The garden they'd built in the middle of the city was already beautiful. Decorative paving stones had been laid on the paths that lined the flower beds and led into the central area. Standing in a semi-circle there were three obelisk type stones and for the last few weeks, Irena had been painstakingly carving the names of those who didn't survive the invasion of Santorina into them.

"Hey, how about a break for a few minutes?" Dee said to the older woman as she approached her. Irena looked up and gave her a small smile, chronicling the dead was a grim but necessary task. The Mouse folk had lost so many of their people. Dee sat down next to Irena and handed over a water bottle she was carrying so Irena could have a drink. "The fact you've been writing all these names from memory is pretty incredible, you know."

"Well three years is a long enough time to commit all of the dead to mind. I'm just glad I don't have to write Ash's name on here after all. It was hard enough to write my husband's… and my daughter's." Irena's voice was full of sorrow as Dee looked at her in shock. The Mouse woman lifted her arm and pointed to one of the memorial stones where the names of Jakob and Dylan Marvale were carved into the rock.

"Jakob and I had already taken Ash in when he was a baby after my sister died in childbirth when I fell pregnant myself. We'd been expecting a boy, hence why our daughter ended up being called Dylan. She was only a little younger than Ash and the two of them grew up together, both showing a preference for greatswords from a young age, just like Jakob." Irena smiled with bittersweet nostalgia.

"They were as close as siblings and fought near enough constantly. Jakob always spoiled the pair of them rotten, Dylan had him wrapped around her little finger from the moment she was born." One silent tear rolled down Irena's face and Dee reached out and took her hand, squeezing it. "After the war I combed the entirety of Santorina twice to find survivors. I prayed with everything I had that I'd find them alive… but I didn't."

"I know there's not much I can do to ease your grief but I'm here for you anyway." Dee spoke softly, she knew from experience that the only antidote to mourning was time itself.

"You do more for people than you think you do with your bright smile and kind heart, child." Irena told her, squeezing her hand back. "It's thanks to you that we were able to stop living in hiding, and soon Santorina will be standing proud once more." Dee looked down with a blush at the compliment.

"Guess that means I should go and get these flowerbeds planted then; it won't be much of a garden without them." The younger woman said as she stood up. "Don't forget to take breaks if it gets too hard for you, Irena." Dee gave her a small wave and headed over to the nearest bed, kneeling down next to it. Someone had already put down the soil and compost so all she needed to do was transplant the flowers from their pots into the ground. So, she picked up a small trowel and got started.

There was something soothing about this sort of work and Dee fell into a zen like trance as she worked her way through the garden. By the time she ran out of seedlings, her hands and knees were covered in soil, she even had a streak across her forehead from where she'd wiped the sweat off her brow. When Dee got to her feet, all the muscles in both her legs complained loudly and she spotted Mad laughing at her from a nearby bench.

"Oh dear, Dee! Looks like you worked a bit too hard today. Come over here and drink some of this tea with me." The hatter called to her and the woman limped over obediently and sat down with a wince. "This is ten leaf clover tea, it's brilliant for muscle recovery so I figured it would go down well with everyone today." The magician informed her as he handed her the cup from his flask.

"Smells delicious, almost floral." Dee commented as she took a deep inhale before blowing on it and taking a sip. "It tastes as good as it smells. We can put this in my list of top ten favourite teas." She could already feel her tense and tired muscles beginning to unwind with every sip.

"You did really well today, you got all the beds planted up by yourself. This place will be a sea of colour once the flowers take root and grow in." Mad complimented her as he pulled out a handkerchief and used it to rub the soil streak off of her forehead. "I'd have stopped you for a break sooner but you looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"I really was, I love doing anything that requires a lot of focus. Cake decorating is just the same, you switch off everything else in your mind and just concentrate on what you are working on." Dee agreed with him with a nod. "I've got that timed cake decorating competition coming up soon. I've been practising but I really need someone there with a stopwatch to time me."

"Just let us know when you want to do it, I'm sure someone will be around to help." Mad offered as he refilled Dee's cup with more clover tea. "I overheard a couple of the Mice talking about holding a festival when the city is finished. Each different clan tend to have their own traditional foods, clothes and dances so it should be lots of fun."

"Ooh, I've seen a little of the Lizard culture from when I was in their village for their Harvest festival, what's the traditional Mouse culture like?" Dee asked in interest, she loved learning everything she could about how the people of Wonderland lived.

"Well the clothing is rural like the Lizards', but instead of tribal it's more old-fashioned and functional. The women wear dresses with long skirts, usually just one solid colour and have their hair tied back and wear white bonnets." Mad watched as two kids ran around the footpaths, playing chase. "The men tend to wear tunics and cloth trousers, nothing fancy, the kind of thing farmers or woodsmen might use."

"Huh, that's bringing up images of old style alpine clothes to mind. I suppose I'll see if I'm right when it comes to the festival." Dee put her empty cup down next to her and stretched her arms in to the air. "That's better, I'm still aching but it's the 'I did an honest day's work' type of ache."

"Good to hear! …Where the Mice really come into their own is their dances. They have a brilliant Sword Dance, if it's pulled off right then it looks so impressive." The hatter screwed the cup back onto the top of the flask. "They have another where they pair off together, there's lots of twirling and swapping of partners, you get dizzy just watching it!"

"Wow! I loved country dancing when I was a kid, maybe I'll see if someone will teach me how to do it so I can join in. It would be such a shame to go to a festival and not experience everything. What about their traditional foods?" Dee could feel a heaviness in her head, this was the normal sign that she was about to go back to the Alice world but she shook her head to stave it off, wanting to finish this conversation.

"Warrior food! Dried and fresh meat, stews, cheeses and they also make this alcoholic drink called Kota which is fermented milk. The ancient warrior tribes would be nomadic as they would always be on the crusade trail. They didn't have much use for food that came from fields as they had to take their meals with them, so they were very reliant on their livestock." The hatter smiled at Dee when he noticed her shaking her head again.

"Thanks for telling me all that, Mad, you're so smart that you could probably teach the kids in the new school all by yourself. I want to hear more about the other cultures in Wonderland, but I'm gonna wake up soon. Come over to mine when you can… there'll be cupcakes in it for you." Dee managed to give him a thankful smile before she lost her battle with the pull of the real world.

* * *

Sakuto balanced a grocery bag with one arm as he pressed the button for the top floor when he got into the lift. Ash had gone to Dee's earlier in the day to help her practice for her timed cake decorating contest, but an hour later she had put out an SOS in the group for more flour and eggs with no explanation. Sakuto had been free so he went and picked them up, he knocked firmly on the door once he got there.

"Door's open!" The White Prince heard Dee call and he pushed down on the handle. The first thing that struck him when he walked into the room was that Ash was sitting by himself on a stool in the middle of the living room, looking contrite. The second thing was that Dee seemed to be making more noise than strictly necessary with the utensils she was washing up. Thirdly, the sponge mop was out and the floor in the kitchen was damp, so were the sides and Dee appeared to be dripping.

"What in the world happened here?" Sakuto asked as he put his grocery bag down on the counter and began to unpack it.

"Ash is no longer allowed in my kitchen when I am cooking." Dee stated in a clipped voice without turning around as she put a square cake tin on the drying rack.

"Does this have anything to do with the request for emergency ingredients?" The prince looked over towards Ash, but the Mouse just averted his eyes in embarrassment. "And why is everything so wet, including you?" Dee finished the dishes and turned around, that was when Sakuto saw a large scorch mark on her favourite red apron.

"That man was leaning against the hob while my cake was baking and turned it on with his back without noticing. Later when I leant over the counter to get my cake saw to cut the sponge in half, my apron caught fire. He then threw a bowl of water over me and the entire kitchen, ruining the cake, the flour, knocking the eggs to the floor and almost drowning me in the process." Dee glared over at Ash as she went to grab a tea towel so she could dry the countertops.

Sakuto bit his lip hard so he didn't laugh out loud. With the mood his friend was in right now, he would probably end up being banished in to the living room along with Ash if he wasn't careful. Instead he grabbed the towel from Dee's hands.

"Here, let me get the kitchen dried up, you go change your clothes, you're soaked." The White Prince offered and Dee relented, she took off her singed apron before half stomping/half squelching up the stairs to her room. "Here, you can mop up the floor again instead of sitting there looking sorry for yourself." Sakuto called over to Ash who got up from his stool.

As they worked, they could hear the sound of the upstairs shower running, hopefully that would calm Dee down a bit. Between the pair of them they managed to get the kitchen clean and dry by the time their hostess came back down the stairs to join them, pulling on a different and dry apron.

"Thanks for that you two, I appreciate it. Right, now I need to rebake my base sponge before we can even think about the decorations. But first…" Dee looked pointedly at Ash to leave the kitchen, Sakuto looked like he was about to protest on his behalf. "He set me on *fire*!" Dee interrupted him and the prince wisely shut his mouth.

Ash went and sat on his stool in the living room while Dee quickly whipped up a batch of cake batter with the new ingredients and poured it into a lined square cake tin.

"Do you have to bake the cake within the time limits too?" Sakuto asked Dee as she gently tapped the tin against the counter top to even out the batter and eliminate any air bubbles before putting it in the oven and setting the timer.

"No, we get an hour before the start of the competition to bake the cakes. Then all the decorating work has to be done in the next hour. It's a little nerve-wracking, I've never done a timed contest before. I'm going to need to be quick but careful." Dee grabbed her tablet and pulled up the brief of the contest and handed it over to Sakuto so he could read it.

"I think you'll be fine; I've seen you making fondant flowers in less than thirty seconds before." Ash encouraged her. "Plus, we'll all be there to cheer you on, you've never placed less than fourth since we started coming with you." The oven timer went off and Dee grabbed her oven gloves, she put the cake aside to cool for a few minutes.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, Ash, the hard part is going to be picking out a design that I can do within the time constraints but still looks impressive enough to win." Dee went into her cupboard and brought out some bars of dark chocolate. "A lot of the videos of speed decorating I've watched have people doing designs that are meant to look messy so I want to try and pull off something more technical with tempered chocolate decorations."

Watching Dee talking about her hobbies was always fun, she would get a sparkle in her eyes as she explained her line of thinking in an animated tone. Right now, she had turned the cake out of its tin and placed it on a raised stand before grabbing her cake saw and carefully cutting the sponge in half horizontally. She lay them both on a cooling rack before she looked over to Ash.

"Right, that's as much prep work as I'm allowed to do. Set the stopwatch for an hour and tell me when to go. Sakuto, would you mind sitting by Ash? I don't want to trip over you." The Rabbit Prince nodded and took a stool over to the Mouse who set up a timer for an hour.

"Alright. Ready, set, go!" Ash told her and Dee immediately set to work. She filled a pan half full with water and put it on the hob to boil, putting a metal bowl on top of it. Then Dee grabbed a chopping board and a knife and began cutting her dark chocolate into small pieces. Once the water was simmering, she put two thirds of the chocolate into the metal bowl and put a candy thermometer in there.

"Tempering is tricky, you have to heat the chocolate to about 48°C then cool it slowly by adding more chocolate before heating it again… If you get it right, you end up with a shiny finish that you can almost see your reflection in." Dee explained to her audience without looking up, keeping a close watch on the thermometer as she stirred with a wooden spoon.

Once the chocolate had reached the desired temperature, Dee used her oven gloves to lift the metal bowl off the pan and wiped the condensation off of the bottom. She then started to add the last third of the chocolate a bit at a time, being careful not to let the temperature of the chocolate dip below 27°C. Once she'd incorporated all the remaining dark chocolate, she put the bowl back on the pan and readied some stencils, waxed parchment paper and a piping bag.

"Right, now for the fun part!" Dee looked up at them with a grin as she picked up a square of the greaseproof paper and screwed it up in her hands, making sure to completely crush it before smoothing it back out. The baker took the bowl back off the pan and poured some of the chocolate onto the paper. She grabbed a flat spreader knife and smoothed it out in an even layer. "Come look, see how shiny it is?"

Ash and Sakuto got up to have a look at the chocolate slab while Dee moved on, she poured the chocolate into the piping bag and lay a square of greaseproof paper over some stencils of leaves and flower petals which she began to trace with a quick and steady hand. She did the same to another sheet that had a butterfly design underneath it, however she propped the edges up on two upturned tea cups to lift the wings.

"What time have I got? These need to cool down and solidify while I sort out the base cake." Dee grabbed her bowl of dark chocolate and poured some on top of the bottom half of her cake and spread it out with her flat knife again before replacing the top of the sponge.

"22 minutes and counting." Ash told her as Dee frowned a little and got out another bowl and quickly whipped up a batch of white fondant icing. She kneaded it into a ball and turned it out on the counter to roll it out with her rolling pin.

"I'm pushing it, the biggest risk factor is going to be the cooling time for the chocolate." Dee draped the icing sheet over her pin and took it over to the cake. She used silicone tools to tuck it tightly over the sponge with no air pockets before cutting off the excess neatly with a small knife. She worriedly went to check on her chocolate decorations, the leaves, petals and butterfly were cooling well but the slab was worrying her.

"We get access to a fridge; I'm going to stick this in there for a few minutes." Dee picked up the parchment paper with chocolate on it and slid it on to a tray and put it in the fridge. Sakuto found himself holding his breath for her when she gently picked the chocolate leaves and petals off their backing and started to build a flower in the middle of the top of the cake. He crossed his fingers on both hands as she gently peeled the parchment paper from the butterfly's wings, placing that next to the flower.

"Three minutes, Dee, you can do it!" Ash encouraged her as the woman pulled the tray back out of the fridge, the chocolate was still a little tacky but she was going to have to wing it. She peeled away the paper to show that the crinkled pattern had transferred to the shiny chocolate. Using a tiny pastry sieve she sprinkled edible gold dust over the slab and cut it into small squares, she then used them to make an attractive wall-like decoration all around the edge of the cake. Dee cheered as she placed the last piece just as the stopwatch went off.

"Oh my god! My heart feels like it's going to explode! That was *tense*!" The girl flopped on to the nearest stool and rested her head on the counter top with a thump. Sakuto was using his phone to take photos of the cake for posterity while Ash had stolen the piping bag with the leftover chocolate and squeezed it into the bowl with the leftover cake batter, mixing and digging into it with a spoon.

"Shame this is nowhere near good enough to win. The flower is flat and I'm going to need to find a more reliable way to solidify the chocolate decorations or go back to the drawing board." Dee propped her head up on her hand and looked at the cake dejectedly.

"You are always your own biggest critic." Sakuto commented with a shake of his head. "I would never have believed you threw this together in an hour if I hadn't just watched you do it. I don't see why this design shouldn't place highly." Dee gave him a grateful smile at his kind words and opened a drawer to fish out the cake knife and pulled out a few cake plates.

"I've still got some time, I'm sure I can shave a few minutes off somewhere if I think hard enough. But let's get to the best part!" She cut out three slices and Ash drizzled some of the chocolate and cake batter mixture over the top of them with a grin. "My dentist hates my hobbies with a passion."

"His loss, because I love your hobbies with an even bigger passion." Ash quipped with a grin as he eagerly cut into his slice with a fork.

* * *

A few days later and Dee opened her eyes in the secret glade, wearing that light blue dress again. She had had this dream every night since that first one where the lory bit her. She couldn't leave the glade; she'd tried to walk out through one of the paths leading outwards but she always just ended up back in the clearing from another entrance. Dee looked up at the familiar fluttering of wings, but she was surprised when the lory landed on her right shoulder this time.

"Oh, so you've decided you do actually like me then?" The woman asked with a smile and the bird chittered at her. "Though if you bite my ear then I'm turning you into a shuttlecock, just so as you're aware." The lory didn't answer her, instead the bird started to preen part of Dee's hair with it's beak.

Dee smiled at that and went to look around again, she was almost certain this was a place in Wonderland but she couldn't be sure because she couldn't leave the glade. _'I do wish you could talk to me, Lory, I'd like to know why I keep coming here.'_ Dee had tried to find the glen when she visited Wonderland voluntarily but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack because there were so many lush forests there, especially in Alchemilla.

Not having anything else to do, Dee sat down among the wildflowers and started to make a braided bracelet. The lory jumped off of her shoulder and landed in front of the woman, watching what she was doing with interest. Having this little bird to keep her company stopped this strange dream from feeling too lonely and before long her eyes started to close.

When Dee opened them again, she looked down and saw her normal clothes and she gave a sigh of relief as she stood up. _'I'm in Gardenia from the looks of it.' _She was on a hill and she could see the rooftops of Chalk Town in the vale below and Chalk Castle beyond that.

"Dee! Perfect timing, I was just thinking I'd like to have a sparring match with you." Joker's voice rang out from behind her and she turned around to face him. Dee had been learning self defence and how to use a stiletto type dagger from Joker as her instructor for a few months now. It had been hard work but it was a lot of fun, Joker was a very patient teacher.

"I'm up for that! Bring it on!" Dee grinned at him as she pulled her knife out of the sheath she kept strapped to the outside of her right thigh when she was in Wonderland. She held it out and Joker sprinkled it with some yellow powder, doing the same with his own twin blades. The magical powder temporarily dulled the sharp edges so they wouldn't hurt each other if they accidentally caught one another as they faced off.

The two took up their positions a few paces apart and Dee readied her stance, she preferred to hold her stiletto with a backhanded grip as opposed to Joker's one forehand/one backhand hold. At some unknown signal, Joker rushed at her swinging both daggers in opposing slashing motions. Dee parried one upwards with her knife and twisted out of range of the other one, she swung her blade at Joker's throat in follow up. He managed to block it with his handguard at the last moment and Dee jumped backwards to get out of his strike range.

"You've gotten really good lately, I'll admit that I'm a little impressed." Joker gave her a half smile with an admiring look. "You've still got some ways to go before you'll be as good as me though." He pressed her again, Dee parried and avoided his knives but he used his forward momentum to barrel her over on to her back. He was about to pounce on her when she planted her foot in his abdomen, and with a straight leg, used his energy to throw him over and behind her where he landed with an 'oof'.

"You make it sound like you've been going easy on me…" Dee jumped to her feet and put some distance between the two of them. "… You shouldn't underestimate me, you of all people should know what I'm capable of, seeing as you're the one who's been training me." Joker's teaching had focused on her strengths, she was fast and flexible so instead of getting caught in struggles of power, he'd taught her to dodge and escape danger while waiting for the perfect time for a quick and deadly strike to end things.

"You've always had excellent reflexes and good instincts though; I can't take any credit for that." Joker complimented her as he jumped into her strike range. When she brought up her arm to defend, he used the pommel of his left hand dagger to hit Dee's right wrist and her stiletto went flying. She tried to twist out of his clutches but he caught her in his arms, one around her abdomen and the other around her neck. "Got yo- OW!"

Dee had sunk her teeth into Joker's neck and his grip loosened enough for her to push against his chest and break free. She dived around him and collected her fallen weapon as she rolled but when she looked back up to face her opponent, she found the tips of two knives millimetres away from her nose. She gulped and held up her hands in surrender.

"I give! You beat me again." Dee was smiling but her tone was a little chagrined, she didn't enjoy losing. Joker sheathed his daggers, holding out his hand to help Dee to her feet and she put away her stiletto.

"I cannot believe you bit me! That really hurt!" Joker was rubbing his neck, giving her an annoyed glare. He had better stamina than Dee so while she was breathing heavily, he didn't seem to have exerted himself too hard. To give him his due, he *had* held off an entire horde of Black Knights by himself without running out of strength before.

"You were the one who taught me there's no rules in a fight, 'Find a way to win and take no prisoners.' – Those were your exact words." Dee answered him with an unapologetic shrug before she noticed Sakuto and Bill walking towards them and she greeted them. "Hey there! If you've come to watch Joker wipe the floor with me, you're a bit too late sadly."

"Don't listen to her, she's doing very well considering she was an absolute beginner when we first started." Joker interjected with a shake of his head. Bill laughed at them both but Sakuto was looking at the holster on Dee's thigh with an unhappy expression on his face.

"Don't give me that look, Sakuto, I don't want to get into the 'Women shouldn't carry weapons' debate with you again. We talked about it for five hours last time and *still* couldn't come close to agreeing with each other." Dee decided to cut off that conversation before it started and changed the subject. "What are you two up to anyway?"

"We've had reports of another sinkhole opening up, Bill and I were just going to see it for ourselves. You're welcome to join us, if you'd care to?" The White Prince offered. Dee and Joker shared a look and nodded, deciding to tag along.

"This will be the third one in less than a week, right?" Dee asked as she fell into step next to Sakuto and he nodded in reply. "Anyone any closer to figuring out why it's happening?"

"Not yet, I still say we should explore them to see where they lead to but no one else is keen on that idea." Bill was always the brave sort, though sometimes he needed people like his friends to stop him from being too reckless.

"Maybe we could throw something attached to a rope into the hole? At least we should get an idea of how deep it goes." Joker suggested as the four of them left the main path and pushed their way through a thicket and Dee got her first close up look at a sinkhole. It was like someone had drawn a circle on the forest floor and coloured it in pitch black with a marker pen.

"I thought it might be some sort of ground collapse but the edges are way too perfect and I would have expected to see soil and rocks lining the walls." Dee commented with a frown as she squatted down by the hole.

"The current theory is some sort of magic spell gone wrong. Though if many more holes open up, then that's unlikely to be the reason." Sakuto was looking at the gaping void with a worried expression on his face.

"Well I like Joker's idea; I'm going to tie a rope to an arrow and fire one in." Bill climbed up a nearby tree with ease and he shimmied across a branch that was hanging over the sinkhole. He took an arrow out of his quiver and tied the end of a length of rope to it and the other end to the branch before readying his bow. "Right, everyone be quiet and listen."

The carpenter shot the arrow into the blackness, the four of them held their breaths and strained their ears to hear when it struck the bottom. Unfortunately, Bill ran out of rope before that happened. The Lizard pulled it back out and checked the arrowhead to make sure it hadn't hit anything before getting down from the tree.

"That was a 100-foot rope there, I had no idea the drop was so deep." He shook his head as he rewound his rope back up. Joker clapped him on the shoulder.

"Now aren't you glad you have friends who won't let you jump into random holes in the ground?" Joker asked him rhetorically, trying to lighten the mood a touch but to little avail. "I guess knowing that things thrown into it can be pulled back out is something though."

"You know, I've been wondering if this is an Infinity Vortex... I read about them a long time ago in some books in the castle library once." Sakuto's forehead was creased as he tried to recall the information from his memory. "There were stories and news reports about them in old writings around 150 years ago. I'll have to go back and try and find those books." The White Prince gave them all a small bow before turning to head back to the castle.

"We should see about putting up some signs so people don't accidentally fall into this sinkhole, you can't see it from the other side of the thicket." Dee commented with a frown. Luckily there was a useless sign nailed to a nearby tree pointing up to the sky that she could repurpose.

She used her stiletto to prise the nail out and carried it back through the thicket, where she hammered it on to another tree with the hilt of her knife. She was considering how to write the warning on to the sign when Bill nudged her aside and scrawled 'Beware! Sinkhole!' onto it.

"Carpenters always carry at least one pencil. There! That should hopefully stop people from falling in to it. The other ones in Protea and Gentiana are in open areas so they are harder to miss." Bill told her as he tucked the pencil back into his headband.

"I hope we can figure out what's going on before long. Strange things are always happening in Wonderland but this one is really making everyone uneasy." Joker commented as Dee chewed on her lip in thought, shaking her head when some of her hair fell into her face. "I thought it was the light earlier but it's not. Dee, what have you done to your hair?"

"What? What do you mean?" She asked in confusion and Joker grabbed a lock of her hair on the right side of her face and held it in front of her eyes. "What the hell? It's blonde! How on Earth did that happen?" Bill laughed at her reaction and shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you rub up against something weird? You never know what's magical and what isn't in Wonderland. I'm sure it will wear off on its own… You know, you look a little like Joker now with those highlights." The carpenter teased her and ruffled her hair affectionately. "I'm gonna go and make sure Sakuto doesn't bury himself in books. Catch you both later!"

Dee nodded absently as he left, she was still looking at her blonde streak and walked over to a nearby pond where she knelt down to get a look at her reflection and Joker followed her.

"It looks a little stupid, it only being that one part of my hair." Dee grumbled as she took her hair out of its ponytail and started trying to arrange her hair to hide it for now, having a moment of insecurity.

"Don't worry about it! Anyone who matters won't care and anyone who cares doesn't matter!" Joker told her with an exasperated shake of his head. Dee didn't answer him in words but he noticed she put her hair back up the way it was. "I'm going to go and find Humpty and Dumpty. I want to tell them to keep away from the sinkholes and not to play anywhere near them. Coming with me?" Dee nodded and Joker pulled her to her feet and the pair set off again.

* * *

Dee woke up in her bed and stretched as she sat up. When she saw the cityscape outside her window she froze for a moment. Then she dived out of bed and jumped down the stairs two at a time, running to her balcony doors and sliding them open, rushing to lean out over the railings.

"YES!" She cheered with a grin as she saw a white blanket covering everything as far as she could see. Dee ran back inside and upstairs to find her phone, snatching it up from her bedside cabinet and typing in frantically.

:: OMG! It snowed last night! Everyone drop whatever the hell you are doing and meet me in the park in half an hour! Joker, grab the twins! I don't want them to miss this! Dress warm! :: Dee threw her phone back onto her bed while she went into the ensuite to get ready. She had been living for this day ever since she'd found out that most people in Wonderland had never even seen snow.

The woman had only a quick shower to freshen up and she was brushing her hair when she realised something was missing. _'The blonde streak is gone already. Good, guess I must have come in contact with some stray magic in Wonderland and it's worn off now.'_ Dee got dressed in full winter wear clothes and headed out of the apartment block. She didn't care how old she was, she was going to go play in the snow with her friends.

Dee got there first and was waiting impatiently at the gates for them, then she saw a gaggle of familiar looking people walking towards her. Joker, Mad, Ash, Bill, Sakuto, Cardia and the twins soon caught up to her but even though they had all made an effort to dress warmer than they usually did, they'd vastly underestimated how cold snowy weather could be.

"You guys are going to freeze to death like that…" Dee commented as she looked around to make sure there were no curious passers-by before turning to Mad and gesturing to her own clothes. She was wearing a thick windbreaker over a fleece top, leggings under jeans, thick boots, woolly hat, scarf and a pair of waterproof gloves. "Mad, if you'd be so kind?"

The magician tipped his hat to her with a wink as he waved his cane and everyone's outfits changed into something more appropriate for the bitter cold, using her as the model. Humpty and Dumpty immediately tore into the park, they were completely entranced by the falling snowflakes and their excited shrieking made Dee smile as they jumped around in a snowbank like it was a pile of raked leaves.

"I've read about snow before in this world's literature but the books didn't quite do it justice, I've never seen anything so pure and pristine." Sakuto was looking around in wonder, his eyes sparkling. "Isn't it a tradition here to build a snowboy or something when it snows?"

"Snowman and yes, we definitely need to do that! I haven't made a snowman since I was a kid." Dee shouted for the twins to come over and knelt down in the snow and started gathering it to her with her arms, rolling it into shape.

"Right, we need to build the three parts of the snowman's body, we need a big ball for the base, a medium one for the torso and a smaller one for the head." After showing them the general premise, she divided the nine of them up to work on the three component parts.

Once they were done, Ash lifted the heavy torso up and placed it on the base and Cardia added the head on the top of that. They made sure they were secure by packing a little more snow around the joining points.

"Ok good job. Humpty, you go with Joker and find us a couple of branches we can use for arms. Dumpty, see if you and Bill can find us some smooth stones we can use for buttons, eyes and a mouth." Dee grinned as the twins split off for their respective tasks, dragging the adults with them, while the others waited.

"Dee? Something's wrong with the lake. Look, those ducks are walking across it instead of swimming like they normally do." Cardia was pointing towards the water in puzzlement.

"The top layer of water has frozen in the cold, so it's like a massive ice cube right now... But whatever you do, don't walk on it, any of you, I mean it!" Dee made sure to look at Sakuto, Ash and Mad so they'd take heed of her warning. "There's no telling where the ice might be too thin to support your weight and falling into water that frigid can kill you ridiculously quickly. Make sure the kids don't go near it either." The guys all nodded at her in unison, showing that they were taking what she said seriously.

Humpty and Joker came back with a couple of branches that they had found, they had broken off the stray stems down the length so they had what looked like arms and hands. Ash went to help push them into either side of the torso at a downwards angle, making the snowman look like his arms were hanging by his side.

Next Bill came back with Dumpty, their pockets full of stones and the pair of them started putting them in a line on the snowman's stomach. The Lizard then picked the boy up so he could put on the eyes and a curved line of pebbles for a smile.

"Great work! Now for the last few touches." Dee declared as she pulled a carrot and a spare scarf out of her pocket. She gave the snowman his nose and wrapped the scarf around his neck before she realised something. "Oh no! I can't believe I forgot one of the most important things; he needs a hat!" She tutted at herself in annoyance.

"Did someone say hat? Say no more, Dee, I've got you covered!" Mad laughed from behind her and waved his cane. His trademark Wonderland hat appeared on top of the snowman's head. "There we go! Now I've got to take a picture of this. Humpty, Dumpty, stand right there with it." Dee got out of the way so Mad and Joker could take some pictures of the kids with their very first snowman.

"That was pretty fun, what else is there to do on snowy days?" Bill asked the woman. Just then, his eyes became drawn to another group of people using small sleds to ride down the hills on the other side of the park. That meant he didn't notice as Dee surreptitiously gathered some snow in her hands and shaped it into a snowball. She edged away slowly before running backwards and throwing it at Bill, hitting the side of his face. "Oh! It is *on*!" The carpenter shouted as he immediately grabbed some snow himself and chased after her.

"You asked me the question!" Dee laughed as she desperately ran away from Bill, but he was gaining on her. "AAAAAAsh! Help me!" She dived behind the warrior just in time, the snowball that had been heading her way hit him square in the chest.

"Uh oh!" The former thief gulped as Dee and Ash shared a look and nodded to each other in understanding. The woman knelt down and started to make snowballs freakishly quickly while the Mouse was in charge of throwing them and his aim was superb. The Lizard ran away from the barrage with a yelp and headed over to the White Prince. "Sakuto! They're ganging up on me!"

His best friend just grinned at him, shaking his head but it looked like he was going to get dragged into this whether he liked it or not because Joker was sneaking up behind him with his own snowballs in hand.

It wasn't exactly clear who was on whose side when all out war broke out between them. Mad and Cardia seemed to be having their own private face off, neither of them giving an inch. Joker had recruited the twins to keep him supplied with snowballs and the prince and Bill were defending on two fronts with Joker on one side and Ash with Dee on the other.

The group of them played until they literally had no energy left, Dee invited them all back to her flat to warm up. She'd put a large pot on the stove and poured apple cider into it along with a spice mix in a muslin sachet to infuse and a lusciously warming scent filled the room as she heated it up.

"This is my grandmother's recipe, there's nothing like hot spiced cider after playing around in the snow." Dee told them as she poured it into the waiting cups with expert skill. Joker took a deep inhale as he cradled his mug in both hands to get some feeling back into his fingers, taking a sip.

"It tastes like I'm drinking an apple pie." He licked his lips in approval as he glanced at the twins. The boys were quiet because they were tired but they seemed to be enjoying the hot cider. Dee had replaced her tiny couch with a much bigger dark blue three-piece suite, there was plenty of room for them all to sit together comfortably while they drank up and warmed their bodies through.

"I love winter, and not just because my birthday is in this season. I love snow, I love wearing soft, warm clothes and curling up with a hot drink." Dee was in the armchair and had put a fleecy shawl around her shoulders.

"It's springtime for me." Sakuto admitted with a smile. "I love it when the fresh green shoots appear and you can almost see the world coming back to life." The White Prince gently took Dumpty's empty mug from his hands and placed it on the table, allowing the eight year old to lay his head on his lap.

"I look forward to autumn every year, red and orange leaves everywhere, mushrooms growing. Apples and blackberries are in season, it's not stupidly hot or ridiculously cold. It's great." Joker had one arm around Humpty in his lap, who had his head resting against Joker's chest, snoring gently.

"Child of Summer right here, but I think you all knew that anyway!" Mad beamed at them with a laugh. Dee saw Cardia scowling, she guessed that he enjoyed summer too and didn't like sharing a preference with the hatter. Complete personality clash, those two. "I honestly think I would shut down if I didn't get to drink tea in the warm sunshine of Alchemilla… Maybe I'm a plant?" Bill laughed and shook his head.

"I don't have a preference myself. There's things to like and not like about all the seasons and life would be boring if the weather was always the same." The carpenter pulled his headband off, shaking out his green hair and running his hand through it. "What about you, Ash?" He addressed the Mouse, not entirely sure if he was still awake.

"I'm with Dee, winter's the best. Warm blankets, early nights and cuddling together to keep warm." As per usual with Ash, everything in that sentence was geared towards one of his favourite hobbies, sleeping.

"Thanks for sharing the snow with us, Dee, I know the kids had the time of their life." Sakuto was gently carding his fingers through Dumpty's hair as he gave her a warm smile. "I'll admit that I've not ran around that much for quite some time either. I could quite happily join the twins for a nap."

"The 'Dormouse' beat you to it." The archer shook his head at Ash, about to try and wake him up but Dee waved a hand at him to stop him as she got up to draw the sliding screens that she'd had installed on the lower half of her window glass wall.

"Leave him alone, I don't mind if he falls asleep on my couch." She shook her head with a smile and Bill just shrugged at her.

"It's not like you have a choice in the matter. You couldn't stop him, even if you did mind. Just don't come crying to me if you can't wake him up when you want all of us to go home."

* * *

That night, Dee woke up pretty much on the doorstep of Dark Castle, so she decided to pay Noir a visit while she was here. She walked up the steps and the Black Knights let her through the doorway without question, she saw a familiar Cat Knight acting as a greeter.

"Hey there, Siam! Noir having another one of his open surgeries?" Dee asked him with a smile as he gave her a short bow. Ever since Noir became King, he'd started holding these meetings where any of his citizens could come and speak to him about any concerns they might have.

"Miss Dee, me-how good to see you! Yes, though His Highness should be finishing this one up soon, I'll let him know that you're here. Maryanne, please take Miss Dee to a reception room." Siam beckoned the maid over to them, Maryanne had her 'this is such a bother' look on her face but she obediently came and bowed to Dee.

"Please follow me." The former assassin turned away and Dee trotted after her. They got to the reception room and the maid opened the door for her with another bow. "I will get some tea for you and Master Noir."

"Thanks, Maryanne, that's very nice of you." Dee grinned at her, knowing that the maid didn't offer to do anything that resembled domestic work very often if she could help it. Noir had once told Dee that Maryanne liked her and she supposed that this was one of the ways in which he could tell. After the black haired lady left, Dee happened to glance at a nearby mirror and she did a double take and approached it. "Oh no! It's back again!" The hair on the right side of her face was blonde once more.

Dee was still staring at the mirror in confusion and anxiety when Noir joined her a few minutes later. He was carrying the tea set, having met Maryanne while on the way here. Being the observant type, he noticed the blonde streak straight away as he put the tea on the table.

"Trying something new with your hair? Not sure you've got the skin tone to pull off a colour that light, I'm afraid." Noir grinned almost maliciously at her, surprised when Dee glared at his reflection instead of responding to his teasing in kind.

"This isn't funny, Noir! I have no idea what's going on. Joker noticed that part of my hair had changed colour when I was with him yesterday, but it was back to normal when I woke up in my world so I thought it was gone. But now it's come back again." Dee turned away from the mirror and went and sat down on the lounge chair, looking dejected. The Black King sat down next to her and took the lock of hair in his hand, studying it carefully, rubbing the strands between his thumb and palm.

"Maybe it's only this colour in Wonderland? I've not heard of something like that before, but to be fair, there's not been many people in our history who've regularly travelled between here and the Alice world like you." He let go and picked up the teapot and poured them both a cup. "I'll look into it when I can, I'll tell Mad and Ruber about it too. Three magicians will be better than one."

"Thank you, Noir, I really appreciate it." Dee took the tea cup from him with a grateful smile. He could be a sarcastic wiseass at times but the purple haired man was very protective of his friends and he had a heart of pure gold. "Anyway, how are you doing? How's everything going?"

"Not bad at all considering I've only been king for such a relatively short period of time. Santorina's rebuild is functionally complete and Irena's invited everyone who pitched in to celebrate with them at a festival in a few days' time." Noir smiled a little when he saw Dee's eyes light up at the mention of Irena and Santorina. Dee had put in a lot of hours to help the Mice out and she was delighted that they'd finally finished it all.

"More and more people are coming to speak with me at my open meetings. At the moment their concerns are about the bare necessities; food, water, a safe place to live and an honest job. But I'm hoping once I've addressed everything Gentiana lacks in those departments, then we can move on to improving the things that truly make a nation civilised like culture, trade and the betterment of our towns and cities." Noir sipped at his tea as Dee listened to him, he still had a lot of work to do but the woman sitting next to him was consistently his biggest cheerleader. She always encouraged him whenever things started to get on top of him, it was something he was truly thankful for.

"Well I know that Sakuto and the Red Queen are leading by example, trying to promote the idea of bilateral peace and trade deals to their citizens, so hopefully public opinion in Gardenia and Protea will start to turn soon." Dee mentioned with an understanding smile. The scars from Gentiana's previously militant actions would take time to heal, the monarchs regularly met up to discuss ideas to speed that process up. "But what's this I hear about the Chess Battles still going on?"

"Oh that… well the battles always drew a lot of spectators, people liked to bet on the outcome and some had set up refreshment stalls so Sakuto and I discussed it and we decided to turn the Chess Battles into its own sport." The Cat snapped his fingers and a plate with some sandwiches appeared. "We got Mad to change the enchantment on the board so now when a piece is disarmed, it's removed completely from play. I'm having to screen out the more bloodthirsty of the Black Pieces but we're getting there slowly."

"Betting on the outcome of a real battle? What the hell is wrong with some people?!" Dee shook her head in disgust but she eventually added. "Though the fact it's now turned into a harmless game isn't a bad thing, I guess. How does it work? It can't be Gardenia versus Gentiana every time, surely?" She picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite of it.

"No, a commander takes the role of the Chess King and the pieces follow their orders. For example; Mad and Siam had a match yesterday with Mad leading the White Pieces and Siam the Black ones. Mad wiped the floor with him, he's a shrewd tactician when he wants to be." The Black King laughed as Dee nearly choked on her sandwich in surprise.

"Oh, I wish I could have seen that. I'll have to check out the next match whenever it happens, it sounds like a lot of fun." Dee giggled as she covered her mouth with her hand so she didn't spit out any crumbs. Her smile dropped and she gave Noir a sidelong look. "What's your take on the weird happenings in Wonderland lately?" The Cat let out a long sigh.

"In my opinion, I think Sakuto is right on the mark. These sinkholes definitely look like the Infinity Vortices of old. I found a centuries old text that described them and some other strange phenomena and distortions that appeared around that time. Unhelpfully, what the book doesn't tell us is how things eventually stabilised." Noir put his tea cup to his lips and took a thoughtful sip.

"So, what exactly is an Infinity Vortex?" Dee asked curiously, she hadn't heard of any more opening up after the one in Gardenia yesterday. Though from the sounds of it, they could count on even more odd things happening soon.

"Simply put, it's a hole in the fabric of reality. Only one person who fell into one was able to get back out again through teleportation. He described falling slowly through an endless void with twisted furniture, melting paintings and other random bric-a-brac all around him." The purple haired man frowned a little. "Some theorised that Wonderland itself was born out of one large Vortex but it's almost impossible to be sure of that now."

"A tear in reality? That can't be good in the slightest…" Dee chewed her lip and played with her necklace in an anxious gesture, drawing the Black King's attention to it, he reached for it with an amused look on his face.

"I can understand you wearing the key but how come you haven't stopped wearing this talisman? You can't still be afraid of landing in the wrong place, right? Especially seeing as you can defend yourself now if it came to it." The Cat rolled the carved wooden woman between his fingers; he'd added himself to the 'whitelist' of safe people enchanted into it not long after they'd rescued her from the former Black King. Initially they had all wanted someone nearby when she came to Wonderland while her legs were still healing but the purple haired man had forgotten about it once she'd made a full recovery.

"Of course I'm still wearing it! You made it for me, Noir! I always wear the things that people have made for me." Dee held up her left wrist to show off the two braided flower bracelets the twins had given to her. Noir gave her a warm smile, genuinely pleased to hear that as he let go of her necklace.

"Maybe I should make you something ridiculous then, just to see you walking around wearing it and see how long it takes you to crack." His eyes sparkled in mischief and Dee felt a chill go down her spine, truly afraid of what the Cat might come up with.

* * *

A few days later and Santorina was packed full of people and the festival was in full swing. The new houses had been decorated with banners, garlands and balloons and everyone was laughing and enjoying the party atmosphere. There was a small band playing upbeat rural music with harps, hand drums, pipes and Bill had even joined in with a set of wooden panpipes.

There were two long picnic tables that had been set up running parallel to each other down the street, weighed down with customary dishes of meat, cheeses and dairy based desserts. At the head of the tables, a traditionally dressed Ash was turning a large boar on a spit carefully and slowly over an open fire. Joker was hovering near him, trying to make sure no one got burnt as kids of all ages were running around everywhere, playing chase and tag with each other.

"Dee! There you are! I'm so glad you could make it!" Irena finally found the younger woman in the crowds of people. The mouse woman was wearing a classical dress with a long skirt. _'Reminds me of old style Swiss milk maids' outfits, if I'm honest.'_ Dee thought as Irena pulled her into a warm hug.

"You kidding? I wouldn't have missed this for the world! I can't believe this is the same place I got hopelessly lost in just over half a year ago!" She squeezed the older woman back before releasing her. "And I have to admit, the smell of that boar Ash is roasting is making my mouth water." Irena grinned at Dee and pulled her over to the nearest picnic table where someone was minding a barrel with a spigot.

"Give this a try, this is Kota. It's a customary drink for us Mice folk made from fermented milk." Irena grabbed a tankard and held it under the tap, opening it to fill the glass. Dee took the cup from her and gingerly sniffed at the drink, not looking sure about this in the slightest but she steeled her nerve and took a tentative sip.

"That's… really odd. It's sour and tart, but milky with a bite to it. Almost like an alcoholic yoghurt... I have absolutely no idea whether I like it or not." Dee's face was a picture of confusion as she took another small sip. "Maybe I'll make up my mind by the time I've finished this glass."

"That's not an altogether rare reaction to someone's first experience of Kota. It's definitely a unique taste. We sometimes do flavoured variations but this is the plain version." Irena had got herself a cup and the pair of them sat down on the bench together, they were watching the hustle and bustle of the festival when they heard Sakuto's voice.

"Ash, wasn't there a special Sword Dance that's been passed down through your clan? Do you know how to perform it?" The prince spoke to the warrior. Ash looked like he wanted to make an excuse to get out of it. But before he could speak, there was a chorus of voices encouraging him to show everyone, including his aunt's.

"Alright, I'll do it. Sakuto, you keep turning the spit." Ash relented, he went and swapped his greatsword for a couple of traditional longswords. Dee watched in interest as someone handed him a pair of bracelets with bells on them and the Mouse slipped them on to his wrists. A large space was cleared for him near to where the band was set up. Ash stood in the middle of it with swords in hand, nodding at the musicians when he was ready.

The percussionists started playing in a steady war drum like rhythm and Ash began by swinging both his longswords down in a long sweeping arc. The distance between both of his arms staying constant as the warrior lunged forward then drew back to his starting position, spinning the swords for one revolution only before stopping. The Mouse repeated this series of movements a few times, almost like he was practising how to use the swords.

Suddenly the tempo kicked up and Ash began twisting and turning before thrusting his blades out in time with the beating of the drums. The bells on his wrists rung as he twirled both swords and Dee realised it was to simulate the sound of swords clashing together in battle. The Mouse's movements had a powerful grace to them and his face was a picture of focus, as if he could see each imaginary opponent that he cut down fall in front of him before moving on to the next one.

Then the tone of the music changed slightly, the stylised sound of a victory horn rang out and Ash briefly came to a stand still. Then with swords still at the ready, he began taking deliberate and careful steps through the unseen bodies at his feet. Instead of the expected triumph from a war hard fought and won, there was a mournful sadness emanating from the Mouse as he reached the edge of the clearing. Dee felt a tightness in her throat as the warrior turned to face the middle once more and crossed the swords in front of him and bowed his head, as if in prayer.

The drums slowly began to build again and the dance became a battlefield once more as Ash defeated endless invisible enemies with cold precision as he twirled and span across the paving stones, his footing steady and sure. Dee was growing dizzy, she could barely see the swords as Ash twirled them at increasing speeds, but he never once looked like he was losing control of his movements.

The drums were beginning to reach a crescendo, though the bells were still audible as the warrior pushed towards the end of the battle with a final show of strength when suddenly Ash crouched to the ground, both swords under one arm but from the side, he look like he'd been run through with them at the very last second.

Dee jumped to her feet, clapping loudly. _'I have never seen anything so incredible in my entire life!'_ She wasn't the only one to think that, seemingly everyone was giving Ash a well deserved standing ovation. For his part, the mouse gave a shy little smile as he bowed, looking down with a blush as he straightened up. He had just removed his bell bracelets and was retrieving his greatsword when Dee caught up with him.

"I have no words! That was amazing! You told a whole story about the life of a warrior without even saying a thing, I'm in utter awe." She gushed at Ash and he blushed again but he smiled at her.

"It's a lot more impressive with more dancers but you really have to practice hard beforehand so everyone knows where they are supposed to be or people crash into one another which isn't fun." The mouse warrior told her; he didn't even look to be too out of breath. It looked like his dancing had inspired others and a number of the Mice had begun pairing up in lines. Dee laughed as Ash found himself forcibly dragged back to join them.

"Oh, it looks like they are short one lady. Dee, why don't you jump in? I know you've had Irena teaching you this one." Mad gave the woman an encouraging grin as he waved his cane. Dee looked down and saw she was now wearing an emerald green long dress in the traditional style with her hair plaited, and a white bonnet. "There you go! Now you look the part!" He gave Dee a push and she ran and joined the end of the line just before the dance started.

This dance was pretty simple, Dee just hoped she could remember all the steps. The first part was that the two opposite partners would skip towards each other until they met in the middle. Dee gave a small curtesy and the teenaged mouse she was dancing with did a small bow before they returned to their starting positions again.

The spectators were clapping to keep the time with the band as all the girls met their partners in the middle and swung by linking their right arms for four beats, then Dee and her partner linked left arms and swung in the other direction for another four beats before skipping backwards to the starting position. That was followed by a crossed over, two handed spin for eight beats.

'_So far so good!'_ Dee thought to herself. Then the couple at the top of the line joined hands and danced down the middle and joined the end of the line and everyone moved up one. The next part showed why the number of pairs had to be divisible by four as two couples came together, holding their right hands outwards, meeting in the centre like a star, as they skipped clockwise for eight beats.

When they split back into their lines, they linked arms and span with the person immediately next to them for four beats. However, crucially, when they stopped, the two male partners from the star group had swapped places, while the ladies stayed in order. Then the dance moves started from the beginning, this way everyone would get to dance with everyone else.

Ash didn't notice Dee until she got further up the line to the middle of the pack and partnered the man immediately below him. The Mouse blinked at her in shock but a massive grin broke out over his face at seeing her joining in, Dee returned his beaming smile with her own, giving him a mischievous wink.

When it was their turn to pair up, the two of them just smirked and laughed at each other as they both hammed up their dance moves a touch, first with their respective bows and then with their spins. Their fun was over way too quickly as they had to swap partners once again to continue the dance.

When everyone came face to face with the original other half of their pair, the energetic dance came to an end. The festival goers clapped and cheered for them as the dancers all joined hands and did a group bow before dispersing. Dee had found the nearest unoccupied seat and sunk down on to it.

"You look a bit red in the face there, shouldn't you get yourself a drink?" Ash walked over and stood in front of her with a smile.

"Maybe when my brain stops spinning." Dee laughed as she answered him, wiping her forehead with her hand. "That was so much fun though, I'm so glad I got Irena to teach me these dances." She reached behind her and grabbed some juice and poured out two cups as the person to her left got up so Ash could sit with her.

"You kept that quiet, I almost fell over when I saw you… and I nearly didn't recognise you in that dress, either." The Mouse took his glass of juice from Dee and gave her an appraising look. "Dark green suits you very well, milady."

"Why thank you, kind sir, you don't look half bad yourself! Cheers!" Dee clinked her juice off of Ash's and they both took a drink. They spotted Irena making her way to the head of the tables, she stood trying to get everyone's attention for a minute before Noir put his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill and piercing whistle to quieten people down. Irena nodded at Noir who gave her a thumbs up with a smile.

"Thank you all for coming today! I can't even put into words how grateful me and the other Mice are for all the time and effort people put in to help us rebuild this city. Even though this was a real team effort, I'd like to single out one person for a special mention… Dee, would you come up here, please?" Dee visibly blanched when Irena called out to her and she shook her head, but Ash pushed her and the woman reluctantly went to stand with the Mouse.

"None of this would have been possible without you, Dee. I truly believe it was fate that you happened to be in Santorina that day when I was out scavenging. The fact you'd recently met my very own nephew just underlines that in my mind. You will *always* have a place here with me and my people. Thank you, dear child!" The festival participants broke out in applause as Dee pounced on Irena and gave her a hard hug, hiding her teary face in her hair.

"Well now the speeches are done. I'm pleased to say this magnificent beast is finally cooked through, so line up nicely, folks, and I'll get to carving!" Joker announced to everyone as he stood brandishing his knives from behind the roast boar. There was a rumble of people as they grabbed their plates and went to take their places in line.

A few minutes later, Dee had just sat down with her pork when she heard a commotion from some of the kids who'd been playing together in the grass.

"Hey! What's wrong with the creek? It's broken!" She heard one little boy ask. Intrigued she stood up to take a look for herself and what she saw took her breath away. The brook looked like it had shattered into pieces. If it wasn't for the fact the water was still flowing, Dee would have thought it had frozen solid.

She knelt down on the bank, vaguely aware that the music had stopped as people noticed the creek. Dee broke off a water reed and cautiously dipped it in to the black edges in between the broken fragments. When she pulled it back out, she tested the end with her finger but it wasn't wet at all.

"There's no water between the pieces, but the water is still flowing continuously somehow, otherwise it would all disappear into the void and the creek would dry up." Dee realised Noir and Sakuto had appeared at either side and she got to her feet and showed them the reed.

"I read about this before. Apparently, parts of Wonderland began fracturing around about the same time as the Infinity Vortices started to appear." Sakuto's face was grim but he kept his voice low, not wanting to start an all-out panic among the festival goers.

"At least this distortion looks like it'll be easier to study than the sinkholes." Mad had joined them, rubbing his chin in thought before he raised his voice to the crowd. "Don't worry, folks! Me, Prince Sakuto and King Noir will look into this for you. You go back and enjoy the festivities and leave this to us."

Initially the people seemed reluctant to leave but Joker, Ash, Irena and Bill started to herd them back over to the tables. Dee followed them but she couldn't help glancing back over her shoulder at the three men huddled together on the riverbank.

* * *

It was the day of the timed cake decorating contest, it was being held in a local school's gym this time around as more space was needed. Joker, Mad, Ash, Bill and Sakuto were sitting on the bleachers with all the other spectators. Noir and Cardia couldn't make it so Joker was filming it for them with a hand held video camera. Dee and her fellow competitors all had makeshift kitchens set up in a row with the electricals plugged into a mobile power source.

"Dee looks absolutely… terrified." Bill commented with a frown as he watched his friend. There was a presenter in charge of the competition and he was being followed by a cameraman, the images he shot were being fed up to a large screen hanging from the ceiling above the kitchens and in front of the benches.

"She'll be alright once she starts working, she just doesn't like the waiting." Ash said in a confident tone as the compere introduced the day's judges. The three of them were sitting at their own table at the side of the hall. Once he'd done that, the announcer turned to the audience.

"Good afternoon, folks! Thank you very much for joining us today. Allow me to explain today's setup for anyone who doesn't know. This is a Speed Cake Decorating competition. As the name implies, our contestants today are going to be working against the clock. They have an hour to bake their cake and do some limited prep work before the main event." While he was speaking, the cameraman was slowly going down the line of kitchens. Dee gave him a strained smile when he reached her, she just wanted to get started.

"Then after that, they will have just one hour to make the best cake decorations they can from scratch, once that timer reaches zero then that's it, it's over, for good or for ill. Then the judges will make their decision. The marks are geared towards the look of the cake but taste is also a factor for this one. But for now, let's set the clock up for the preparation hour! Ready, set, go!" The presenter fired a starting pistol to signify the beginning.

Mad whooped loudly as Dee grabbed her mixing bowl and began whipping up a sponge cake batter, not even needing to weigh out the ingredients or work from a recipe, she could do it by eye and memory. Meanwhile the presenter was going through the hall with the cameraman, introducing all the contestants with a short biography.

"Entrant number 5 should be no stranger to anyone who has been hanging around the cake decorating circuit for the last few years. Dee is a lovely young girl whose designs are usually right up there, scrapping it out for one of the top spots. Keep your eyes on this one, folks." Ash smiled as Dee paid the compere no mind as she put her cake in the oven and began cutting some greaseproof paper in to large squares before putting them in the fridge-freezer to chill.

"That's a good idea, that should help the chocolate to harden up and set quicker." Sakuto commented with an admiring nod, but that look quickly turned to confusion. "Though what in the world is she doing now?" Dee had started to wrap ten eggs tightly in clingfilm, spraying the outside with a little oil before replacing them in the egg carton and putting them in the fridge too.

"Guess we'll find out soon enough." Joker answered with a slight shrug as he kept his camera trained on Dee. There was no sign of the earlier nerves, she was completely focused on her current task. The oven timer went off and she pulled her square cake tin out and put it on the side to cool. Dee then grabbed the kettle and filled it with water and put it on to boil.

Bill gave her a double thumbs up when he caught her eye briefly, personally the carpenter had been glad for the opportunity to think about something else rather than the distortions currently causing concerns in Wonderland. Fractures had appeared in all of the countries, more rapidly than the sinkholes had. No one had any idea what was happening or how to stop it and there was an understandable atmosphere of anxiety among the entire population right now. Suddenly a loud buzzing sound rang out.

"Bakers, stop! Your preparation hour is up… Good, good. Most of you look like you got everything done that you wanted to." The presenter announced the end of the first section. Dee was looking completely unruffled having just sawn her cake in half and put it back on the cooling rack. "Right, let's reset this thing back to an hour. Ladies and Gentlemen, on your marks, get set… go!" He fired his starting pistol once more.

"Oh, didn't you guys say she was only using dark chocolate when you saw her practice before?" Joker asked as Dee pulled out two large packets of chocolate chips, dark and white chocolate. She poured the recently boiled water from the kettle into two pans and emptied two thirds of the different chocolates into metal bowls to melt.

"That's right, she was also using block chocolate then too. I guess this means she doesn't need to chop it up which will save her some time." Sakuto watched as Dee put two candy thermometers into the melting chocolate, watching them like a hawk. The compere was coming back down the kitchens to check up on them.

"Well, if this isn't multitasking, then I don't know what is!" He laughed when he got to Dee, she was stirring the bowls with a wooden spoon in each hand. "Using tempered chocolate in a timed contest takes some guts! We're expecting big things from you, little lady." He was already moving on to the next person so he didn't see the daggers Dee was shooting at him with her eyes, making Bill chuckle.

"Uh oh! Didn't anyone warn him not to make fun of her height?" The green haired man was about to say something else when there was a loud crash and a gasp of shock from the audience nearest to the first kitchen. It looked like the contestant had accidentally knocked a full bowl of mirror glaze to the floor, she looked down at the mess with her hand over her mouth in horror, her eyes tearing up.

"It'll be ok, miss! You can save it! Believe in yourself!" Mad quickly stood up and shouted out encouragingly, the other spectators joined in a moment later and they started to clap for her. The woman took heart from that, giving the audience a thankful smile before she picked up the bowl to try again.

Dee smiled to herself when she heard that exchange but she didn't let that break her focus for a moment, she'd fully tempered her chocolate and retrieved the things she needed from the fridge. Ash watched in interest as she took the clingfilm covered eggs and dipped them sideways in to the white chocolate, coating them roughly halfway before putting them back in the egg box.

"She's making brilliant time. She's got this!" Ash whispered to no one in particular but Sakuto nodded from his position next to him as Dee prepared the dark chocolate slab, leaves and butterfly. She left them to solidify while she made a batch of fondant icing. Though this time she separated out a small amount and added a couple of drops of green food colouring, kneading it in until it was one uniform colour.

Dee then poured the white chocolate into the dark chocolate and swirled her flat knife through it once before pouring it on to the bottom half of the cake. When she spread it out, it almost looked like marble and she nodded to herself in satisfaction as she put the top back on.

The woman glanced up at the timer as she turned out the white fondant on the counter. She grinned up at her friends and tossed her rolling pin over her head with a flick of her wrist, catching it with her other hand.

"*Snrk* Show off! Any other day that would have hit her in the face!" Joker supressed his laughter as best he could so the camera didn't shake too much. Dee rolled out the white fondant and tucked it neatly around the cake, then she rolled out the green fondant and used a saucer to cut out a round piece which she placed on top of the cake in the centre.

This time around there was no problem with the chocolate decorations setting, Dee turned the dark chocolate brickwork over and peeled the greaseproof paper away before dusting them and slicing them into squares. Mad was glad that the cameraman decided to focus on Dee as she started her final assembly. The chocolate leaves went on first before she gently took delicate white chocolate curved petals off of the eggs and arranged them like a lotus flower.

Bill glared at the presenter when he announced that they only had two minutes left before turning his gaze back to his friend. Dee used a small dab of white chocolate for glue and balanced the butterfly on the edge of the lotus blossom. She then placed all the chocolate squares neatly around the vertical edges of the cake, finishing with enough time to lightly dust the top with a bit more of the gold powder.

The buzzer went off and Dee clasped her hands together and raised them to her face as all the spectators applauded for the contestants. It couldn't have gone any better for her, now it was up to the judges. The competitors carried their cakes to the judges' table where the compere invited them forward one by one. Sakuto had been worried Dee's butterfly might not survive the trip but it didn't budge one bit.

"Oh wow! Next up is Entrant 5: the lovely Miss Dee. I know I was the one who told you to watch out for her but even I wasn't expecting anything this impressive. To pull off something this delicate in an hour takes real skill, ladies and gents!" The presenter held out his hand to Dee once she'd placed her cake on the table. She took it, thinking he wanted to shake her hand but he placed a kiss on the back of it instead, making Ash bristle a touch.

"Bit presumptuous, don't you think?" The Mouse grumbled to Mad, but the hatter was looking at the other finished cakes. It looked like all the other competitors had gone for mirror glazes and other sorts of dripping designs where neatness and precision were less important. The lady who had had a disaster had managed to salvage her design with a bit of improvisation but her glaze clearly wasn't as set as everyone else's.

Dee and the other bakers went back to their kitchens while the judges started to look at and sample the cakes. The compere and the cameraman stayed at that end, though they were careful not to let the microphone pick up too much of what they were saying.

"You did really well! How do you feel?" Bill mouthed towards Dee when she looked their way. He laughed out loud when she used her hand to mime that she wanted a stiff drink, tearing a small piece of leftover fondant off and tossing it in her mouth. "That's our Dee right there!" Sakuto chuckled as well, glancing up at the screen to see the judges tasting Dee's cake.

"I really hope she does well, she's worked so hard for this one." The White Prince spoke softly, watching as the woman had started to tidy up her kitchen for something to do while they waited.

"Looks like the nerves are back now she's all done." Mad commented with a knowing smile as he watched Dee cleaning up. However, it wasn't long before the announcer was given a small white envelope with everyone's marks by the judges. He asked the contestants to join him in a line in front of the audience.

"This is been one hell of a contest, folks, I know you are all dying to know the results so I won't beat around the bush." The compere opened the envelope and pulled out the card inside, reading it in silence before he spoke up again. "In third place with a total of 18 points is… Celeste! Give her a hand!" A dark haired lady grinned in glee as she approached the judges who pinned a bronze rosette to her chest, handing her her certificate and prize.

"Well done to you, Celeste! …Now, our second place entry with an impressive 22 points is… Malcolm! Looks like baking isn't just for the ladies, come on up here!" Malcolm gave a thrilled fist pump and he jogged up to the judges to receive his prizes as the audience applauded again.

"Good job, Malcolm! ...Right! The moment everyone has been waiting for. Our first place and undisputed Champion of Speed Cake Decorating with a – do my eyes deceive me? – a *perfect* score of 25 out of 25 is…" The presenter waited a beat or two, toying with everyone who were on the edge of their seats in anticipation. "…DEE!"

"GET IN!" Joker leapt to his feet with an ecstatic shout as Dee's face lit up and she breathed a massive sigh of relief. The other four were on their feet as well as they clapped and whistled as Dee had the golden rosette pinned to her chest and she accepted her certificate and prize. Then the compere pulled her over for a quick word.

"Absolutely flawless win, Dee, very nicely done! Though I can't help but notice your entourage over there…" He gave the Wonderland boys a sly look before continuing. "… Is this the secret to your success? It looks like a reverse harem… is there room for one more?" The presenter teased her but Dee just beamed at her friends.

"They're my cheering squad! There's no way I could have done this without their encouragement, thanks guys!" She declared and the audience applauded again. As the competition finished, Dee rushed over to the Wonderland boys as they climbed down the bleachers. Mad reached her first, lifting her into the air and spinning around with her.

"Well done, you! First place on your first go! I knew you could do it!" The hatter grinned up at Dee in joy before he finally put her down. The woman rested a hand on Mad's arm because the spin had left her dizzy. Ash put a steadying arm around her shoulders so she didn't fall.

"You were brilliant, Dee! You had that in the bag from the start… though that presenter was a bit of a letch, wasn't he?" The Mouse frowned and his eyes searched around for the man so he could keep Dee away from him. Bill chuckled at his overprotectiveness as he elbowed Ash out of the way so he could give their friend a congratulatory hug.

"Cardia and Noir are going to be truly devastated that they missed this one. Though Joker's recording will hopefully lessen their disappointment." Sakuto commented. At the mention of his name, Joker went and stood next to Dee, turning the camera to face the pair of them.

"And with that, we're going to go eat cake until we throw up! Sucks to be you!" Dee cracked up as Joker gave the camera a thumbs up before finally switching it off.

* * *

Dee was sitting cross legged on the ground of the glade, while the lory was hopping around in the grass, picking wildflowers with it's beak and bringing them to the woman.

"Thanks, Lory, this has gone waaay beyond a bracelet now, probably more like a belt or a sash." Dee commented as she took the flower and weaved it in before she looked around at the glen. "We've actually picked this place clean… Guess that means it's time to finish it off." The lory flew up and landed on her right shoulder again as Dee braided the end closed.

She got to her feet with the length of flowers in her hand. _'Now what to do with this? …Ooh! I know!'_ Dee walked towards the biggest tree in the glen and looped the band around the trunk. The woman got the two ends in her hands and tied them together loosely before taking a step back to admire her work.

"What do you think, Lory? Pretty nice if I do say so myself." Dee asked the bird on her shoulder as she reached up and gently stroked the feathers on it's front with her finger. The lory chittered and bobbed it's head in agreement. "Hmmm… what's that?"

Dee crouched down by the base of the big tree. _'Is that a rabbit hole? How come I've not spotted it before?'_ She thought she'd examined every rock and leaf in this glade over the last couple of weeks. But there was indeed a large hole in the ground around the roots of the tree, it was big enough that a small person like her should just about be able to crawl down it to explore. Dee was considering doing just that when the lory suddenly buried itself in her hair.

"Ahahaha! Stop that! That really tickles!" The woman reached up behind her head and gently took the lory in her hand, untangling the small bird. "No nesting in my hair, Lory, alright?" Dee said as she put her little friend back on her shoulder before she let out a yawn. _'Playtime's over. Maybe I'll check out that rabbit hole tomorrow.'_

Dee stood up and dusted herself off, looking around to see where she was today. _'The Wandering Woods? Then that can only mean one thing…'_ The woman looked up, and sure enough, Ash was lying in the branches of a tree, sound asleep. The Wandering Woods being one of his favourite places to take a nap.

"Come on, sleepyhead, wake up! You do have a house to sleep in now, you know!" Dee called up to the mouse but he didn't stir at all. She walked over to the trunk of the tree and put both hands on the thick bark and pushed against it. It was enough to rock the branches without shaking him out of the tree. "Waaaake uuuuup!"

Dee's idea didn't have quite the desired effect as Ash awoke with a start and slipped off the limb he was lying on, landing on top of her and knocking her to the ground. The warrior blinked down at her with groggy eyes full of confusion.

"Dee? What are you doing here?" Ash asked, pushing his upper half up with his arms as the woman winced a touch. It was one thing knowing the Mouse was pretty much solid muscle, it was quite another to have the point driven home by having all of it fall on to her from above.

"Breaking your fall evidently… Get off of me, I can't breathe." Dee told him. Ash's eyes widened in shock as he got to grips with the situation and he scrambled off of the woman. "Ngh! Ow!" She tried to push herself up but a pain in her back and chest stopped her.

"Oh my god! I really hurt you! I'm so sorry!" The warrior looked absolutely horrified as he got to his feet in a panic. "Hang on! I'll go and get Mad!"

"No no! It's ok, Ash! It doesn't really hurt!" Dee grabbed a hold of the fabric of his trousers to stop him before she attempted to sit up again and failed. "Hss… Really it's fine if I just stay on my back and don't move at all." The woman tried to give the mouse warrior a reassuring smile but it came out a little strained, making him blink down at her incredulously.

"That's not my definition of fine in the slightest!" Ash looked around, trying to come up with an idea of what to do. "…Oh! I know someone around here who could help us!" He knelt down and carefully threaded his arms under Dee's body and lifted her up, bridal style, trying not to jar her too much.

"Ash?!" Dee cried out in alarm as she instinctively put her left arm around Ash's neck to hold on to him. The Mouse had already started walking as quickly as he dared, but it looked like he was heading *into* the Wandering Woods.

"Keep still. The Green Witch of Alchemilla lives in the Wandering Woods. I'm one of the few people who know the way to her house, I'm sure she'll heal you right up." Ash informed her, his eyes forward and full of determination. Dee realised there was no talking to him right now so she quietened down and allowed herself to be carried in Ash's strong arms.

Before long they came to a clearing and there was a log cabin in the centre of it. Dee could see a woman spinning wool on a wooden frame next to the front door. The witch looked younger than Dee had been expecting, in fact, she didn't look much older than her.

"Why, hello there, Ash!" The woman called when she spotted her visitors. Her green eyes flashed in amusement at them as they approached. "I must say this is a novel way to bring someone to tea, hopefully it will catch on." Her teasing smile disappeared when she caught sight of the serious look on the warrior's face when he reached the cabin.

"Opera, this is Dee. She's hurt so I was hoping you'd have a look at her for me? Dee, this is the Green Witch, Opera… she's also Mad's older sister." Ash introduced the pair of them and the woman in his arms blinked in shock before staring at Opera. _'Actually, now I look again. I can see the family resemblance. They have the same colour hair and eyes.'_ The witch beckoned them both into her home with a concerned look.

"Yes, of course, I'll do just that." The magician waved a wooden staff and the table in the centre of the room was cleared of everything that was on it. "Put her down there, Ash, and tell me what happened." The Mouse did as he was asked, carefully putting Dee down before straightening up.

"I -uh, I kinda fell on her… from a tree. She couldn't sit or stand up so I thought it would be best to get her checked out." Ash admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and remorse, Dee felt the need to defend him.

"It's my own fault, I was trying to wake him up and it was stupid of me to be standing underneath the branch in the first place." Dee said, wincing as she shifted a little. Opera gave them both a small smile as she sighed dramatically.

"Sounds about right for the type of company my brother keeps. Alright, let's get a look at you. I must say, it's great to finally get the chance to meet the 'Alice' with a blue 'Heart'. It's certainly a beautiful colour, it's dark like the night sky." The Green Witch raised her staff and hovered her free hand over Dee's torso as she began mumbling to herself.

"Opera's magical ability is up there with the Red Queen's so she can see the 'Heart' in your chest." Ash explained at Dee's look of confusion, keeping his voice down so he didn't distract the witch as she worked. Opera's staff glowed white and she brought it down to touch Dee's body and the woman felt the aches and pains from the accident disappearing completely.

"There, done! You had a broken rib and a couple more were bruised but I've fixed you right up. You should be able to move around now." Opera withdrew her staff and helped Dee to sit up with her free hand.

"Wow! That's brilliant! I feel absolutely fine! Magic must run strong in your family, thank you." Dee swung her legs to the side and climbed off the table with ease. When she turned around, she caught sight of the devastated and guilty expression on Ash's face as he stared at his feet. "Don't look so sad! It was an accident, alright?" The Mouse looked up, about to shoot back that it wasn't alright, when his breath caught in his throat in surprise.

"Dee… your hair…" Ash's voice was barely above a whisper and Dee quickly looked in a mirror that was hanging above the mantlepiece. The blonde patch had spread out further, covering the entire right side of her hair. "It wasn't like that when I fell on you or I would have noticed… your hair is getting longer too."

Dee was frozen in shock and fear as she stared at herself in the mirror. Opera came up behind her with a worried frown, she took one blonde lock and compared the length to a normal reddish-brown one. The blonde part was considerably longer, going most of the way down Dee's back.

"Mind if I cut some of this off to get a better look?" The Green Witch asked, getting a nod in response. She picked up a pair of scissors and cut the blonde lock of hair down to where it should have been. Opera's eyes widened as it immediately grew back to the long length. "I can't say anything for sure, but this looks like some kind of curse… And a powerful one at that." That sentence made a chill run down Dee's spine.

"A curse? But who would cast something like that on me? And why?" The woman turned around and watched as the witch took the hair that she had cut over to a table covered with scientific and alchemical instruments. Opera put some of the hair on a slide, inserting it into a microscope and bending down to look into it.

"I don't know. It would take an impressive magician to do something like this, I can name the people with the required skills on one hand and one of them is me." The Green Witch adjusted the focus of the microscope and jotted down her observations on a notepad. "The other three; Mad, Noir and Ruber wouldn't curse you, I'm sure of it. But finding out who cast this spell isn't as important as figuring out how to break it. Has anything else been happening? Strange people hanging around? Odd dreams?"

"Dreams? Well…" Dee wasn't sure if it was relevant but her recurring dream had started a few days before her hair first changed colour. So, she told Opera and Ash all about the glade, the lory, the strange dress and the fact she couldn't leave the glen. "I've been having it every night, even when I'm not coming to Wonderland for whatever reason."

"It's too close in time to the events in question to write off a connection out of hand… even if it's not immediately obvious *what* that connection might be." The magician had noted down everything the woman had told them before turning back to her microscope. "Leave it with me and try not to worry, ok?"

A few minutes later, Dee found herself walking out of Opera's cabin in a numb daze. _'Try not to worry she says. What if I become a different person when my appearance finishes changing? What if I don't remember who I was before?'_ The woman was wandering around aimlessly, lost in thought when she heard a twig snap behind her and she whirled around to see Ash's concerned face.

"Oh Ash, you scared me! …You didn't have to follow me, I'm ok, really." Dee tried to smile at the warrior and failed miserably. At realising she couldn't bluff she was fine, she turned her back to Ash with a sniffle. "I'm sorry, don't worry about me, I'll be alright tomorrow… I'm just a bit shocked and need some time to clear my head. I'm sorry, I promise I'll be back to normal tomorrow so just ignore this, please."

She was angry at herself for letting her fear get to her as she rambled. All of a sudden, Dee felt a warm presence behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the Mouse standing there with his back against hers.

"You don't have to apologise or try and force yourself to smile for my sake… But if you don't want me to see you when you're feeling weak then I won't look at you, I'll just stay with you like this until you feel better." Ash's tone was low and soothing, trying to comfort her. The fingertips on their hands brushed against each other and the warrior gently took Dee's hand in his, squeezing it as he continued.

"I know you're scared but we'll figure this thing out before anything bad happens to you, I promise... I'd do anything for you, you know." Ash looked up at the sky as night fell in the blink of an eye and a smile crossed his face at seeing the stars. "Before I met you, I was literally sleepwalking through my life. But then you woke me up, Dee, and although I still love sleeping, now I also love being awake and enjoying my life, the life that you gave back to me."

Dee didn't know what to make of that heartfelt confession. It almost sounded like Ash thought of her as more than a friend but doubts were quick to fill her mind_. 'He's probably referring to how I helped find the other survivors of the war and then rebuilt Santorina with him, that's all.'_ That thought left her with a stab of loneliness but she squeezed Ash's hand back as she murmured.

"I didn't do anything special, but thanks anyway."

* * *

The next evening in the Alice world, Ash looked at the time on his phone with a frown. Earlier that day he had recruited the other guys in a plan to try and take Dee's mind off of her curse. So the Wonderland boys had invited her over to their place to have a movie night. They'd bought in a load of snacks; drinks and they had a stack of DVDs to choose from.

"Not very often that Dee's late." Noir commented as he opened a bottle of coke, after hearing the news about yesterday from Ash, he'd dropped everything to come and see how she was doing with his own eyes. The situation in Wonderland with the instability was bad but it was contained for the most part, so he felt safe to focus on his friend instead.

"Do you think she might have changed her mind about baking a cake?" Sakuto asked, the prince would be glad if that was the reason for Dee's lateness. When she had warned them in the group that she didn't feel up to making anything for the get together, it really drove home to them about how down she was currently feeling.

"Hmmm, as nice as that would be, I think she'd have told us if that was the case." Mad had looked thoughtful before shaking his head. "Let's give her another ten minutes before we all start really panicking." Joker grumbled at hearing that but he didn't argue with him.

A few minutes later and the front door opened as Dee pushed it and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. She was wrapped up warm as the night was another cold one, she shouted out a greeting as she took off her hat and unwound her scarf.

"Hey! Sorry I'm so late, I kinda got waylaid on the way." Dee apologised as she hung up her coat and lent down to undo her thick walking boots. Bill had walked over to her and picked up the shopping bag she had been carrying.

"I'm pretty sure we told you that you didn't have to bring anything…" The carpenter chided her with a shake of his head. "What happened while you were out then?" The Lizard allowed her to use his arm for balance as she pulled her shoes off.

"Some idiot tried to mug me; can you believe it? What a twat!" Dee informed them in an annoyed tone, like she was talking about someone jumping her in a queue instead of potentially being robbed. The six guys in the room jumped to their feet and were all talking over one another, shouting out questions at her. "Ahhh! Stop! Stop! I'll explain, just let me go and sit down first!"

At Dee's voice, everyone reluctantly sat back down and Joker grabbed her a stool and Sakuto handed over a drink. Dee took the bottle and opened it, she took a long swig before sitting down on the stool, ready to tell her friends what had happened on the trip over.

"I took a detour to the shop to pick up some more snacks so I didn't take the normal route. There's this alley across the road from the High Street that leads back out to my road so I went to use that as a shortcut after I'd bought my bits." Dee ignored the pointed look Ash was giving her at going down a dark alley, at night, on her own. "Idiot man jumps out at me from behind an electrical cupboard, grabs my wrist and orders me to hand over my purse and phone." Noir bristled in indignation at the thief laying a hand on his friend.

"Well, that was never going to happen really, now was it? To cut a long story short, he picked on the wrong girl. I threw him into the wall and knocked him out, called the police, they came, arrested him, took a statement from me before letting me go. I managed to protect myself, I'm not hurt and everything is fine. So, relax!" Dee finished her story and gave them a reassuring look, happy that they cared but they could stand to tone down the overreactions.

"You say that you're not hurt, but if that's true then show me your wrists." Mad spoke in a knowing tone. Dee stiffened then sighed and rolled up the sleeve on her left arm where fingertip shaped bruising was coming out. Joker stood up instantly at seeing that, making a beeline for the door. Dee let out a yelp and dived after him, wrapping her arms around him to hold him back.

"The guy is already in custody, Joker, don't go all Stabby McMurder on me! I don't want you to get into trouble too." Dee pleaded with him and Joker stopped pulling against her.

"Fine, but if you ever see him again then you point him out to me and I'll end him." Joker made Dee look him in the eyes and promise, the woman breathed a sigh of relief but she nodded. _'I probably wouldn't recognise him so I won't technically be breaking this promise.' _With that sorted, Dee grabbed her drink and went and sank down on the couch. Sakuto sat on her left side and took a hold of her arm so he could look at the bruises.

"Want me to put some of my cream on these?" The prince offered and Dee shook her head to say it was fine. She lent forward and looked through the stack of DVDs to pick something for them all to watch. Dee knew the whole idea behind this was to distract her, so she was going to show her gratitude by doing her best to be distracted.

"What do we fancy, guys? Action, thriller, comedy, all of the above?" She asked as she flicked through the discs. Ash brought a big bowl of popcorn over, putting it on the table and taking the seat on Dee's other side. He could tell she was forcing the cheer and he had no doubt the rest of them could too.

"Whatever you want to watch, I'm pretty sure I've not seen any of the films in that stack before, so I'll be fine." Noir brought over a six pack of cider, taking a spot on the floor in front of the couch. Dee chewed her lip and finally made up her mind, holding her choice out to Mad. The hatter took the disc from her and put it in the DVD player.

"Hit the lights before you come over, Joker." Bill called as he grabbed another bowl full of crisps in one hand and a jar of dip in the other. The pair of them hurrying over to join the group on the couches as the movie started.

An hour later and Dee was peering timidly over the edge of a cushion before hiding her face with a girly shriek at yet another gory death on the screen. Joker was sitting in the armchair, highly amused at Dee's dramatics.

"Why'd you pick this one if you don't like horror movies?" He asked, laughing as the woman held the pillow up to block her peripheral vision as she turned her head to answer him.

"I thought it would be funny to see your reactions. I didn't realise I'd be the only one screaming!" Dee explained, a loud sound of grinding metal made her jump and she dropped her cushion. Noir seized his chance and stole it before she could pick it back up. "Oh my god, Noir! Why are you so mean?!"

"I don't think Sakuto is enjoying this film that much either if it makes you feel any better, Dee." Bill was looking at the White Prince whose rabbit ears had been out for the vast majority of the movie and he was looking a little green around the gills. Dee didn't get a chance to reply when another character met a bloody end and not having anything to hide behind, she turned and buried her face in Ash's chest with a screech, much to the Mouse's surprise.

"This has got to be the first time I've ever seen you act like a stereotypical girl, Dee." Noir teased her as he laughed, in fact the lads were having more fun watching her than the film. No one would believe this same woman fearlessly fought off a mugger earlier that very evening.

"Maybe we should put on something else then if she can't watch it?" Sakuto suggested, trying not to make it obvious that this was what he really wanted too, but no one was buying it.

"I'm good right here!" Ash commented as he casually dropped an arm around Dee's shoulders as she clutched onto his hoodie, one eye peeking out at the tv. "I'm interested to see how it turns out actually." Mad smirked at him and raised a knowing eyebrow before commenting.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll bet… Judging by the current death rate, I dare say this movie isn't one that's going to end with a happily ever after." The hatter summoned himself a tea set and Dee spent the remainder the film almost hiding in Ash's pocket.

When it finished, Sakuto and Dee were combing through the DVD stack to find something more light-hearted to watch while Ash was in the kitchen microwaving some more popcorn. Joker joined him, bringing the empty bottles and cans and putting them in the recycling bin. He looked at the Mouse and checked over his shoulder to make sure a certain person wasn't paying attention before leaning into Ash.

"Are you ever planning on telling her how you feel about her?" Joker asked in a low voice, the warrior straightened up immediately in surprise, his eyes darting to Dee but she was still debating movies with the prince and Mad.

"I've been trying not to scare her away, we both know how badly she's been hurt before." Ash whispered as the microwave beeped and he pulled the hot packet out and shook it before putting it back in. "Admittedly, I've been getting some promising signs from her lately but now just doesn't seem to be the right time, what with her curse and Wonderland."

"What do you mean? Now's the perfect time. What if something happened and you never got the chance again? You'd be regretting that for the rest of your life." Joker pulled some freshly chilled drinks out of the fridge, it looked like Dee and Sakuto had settled on a buddy-buddy cop film. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do… but I now firmly subscribe to the view that you don't know anything until you give it a try. Something to think about."

With that, Joker left him in the kitchen and rejoined the group. Ash lent back against the kitchen counter as the microwave hummed beside him. Dee had stolen a can of cider from Noir in payback for him taking her cushion. The Mouse's face softened into a smile at noticing that her laughter was natural again and she'd finally relaxed. Suddenly Bill called out from the couch.

"Ash! What's the hold up with the popcorn? I'm going to have to resort to throwing tortilla chips soon and that's nowhere near as funny!" The warrior shook his head as he opened the steaming packet and poured it into the bowl, he took a handful and shoved it in his mouth before bringing it over to the table.

* * *

Irena walked through the streets of Santorina, she was looking for someone. Eventually she spotted that someone sitting on their own by the flower beds in the memorial garden. Dee's hair was completely blonde now and reached all the way down her back. The young woman was just staring into space with a pensive and troubled look on her face. Irena approached and sat down behind her and silently started to brush Dee's hair with the comb she'd pulled out of her pocket.

"Irena?" Dee asked in confusion but the Mouse woman didn't answer or explain. There was a soothing nostalgia in having someone brush her hair like this and so Dee found she was relaxing despite herself. Irena smiled at sensing the change. Once she'd combed out all the tangles, she started to braid three small plaits of hair, securing them at the end with short ribbons.

Then the older woman wound the braids around themselves in a circle and fixed them in place at the back of Dee's head with small hair pins. Finally, she divided the remaining hair into three and made a long rope braid, fixing the end with a larger green ribbon.

"There…" Irena draped the end of the braid over Dee's shoulder so she could at least see that part. "If you have no choice but to put up with having long hair for now, we might as well take the opportunity to try some different styles. I often wear my hair in a rope plait myself."

"Thank you, Irena." Dee looked down at the braid as the older woman moved so she was sitting besides her now. "…This really isn't like me, is it? Sitting around moping instead of just getting on with my life. This curse isn't physically harming me but I'm acting more worried than when I had a death sentence hanging over my head." Dee sighed as she admitted that, she was frustrated with herself that she just couldn't shake this despondency off.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, back then you could at least do something to help your situation by trying to fall in love. This time around, you don't have the luxury of having a plan to follow so it's no wonder you feel so at a loss." Irena put an arm around Dee's shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Have you considered taking a break from Wonderland for a while? It might help clear your mind."

"I have… but part of me says I shouldn't be running away from this; I need to front up and work something out. Also, I want to be here for the people in Wonderland while the distortions keep cropping up. Everyone here has done so much for me in the past, I'd be a pretty poor friend if I didn't offer my support at a time like this." Dee explained as she twisted the end of the braid around her fingers.

"You're such a kind-hearted girl, thinking about Wonderland when no one would blame you for looking after yourself… You're kind and you're strong, you remind me so much of Dylan. A beautiful tomboy, loyal, considerate and stubborn, the pair of you. I think you would have been great friends." Irena smiled when Dee took her hand and squeezed it, knowing how hard it was for the Mouse to talk about her late daughter.

"Well you remind me of my mother. She was so warm and caring, I knew I was loved unconditionally and I always trusted everything would work out for the best as long as I had her by my side. My dearest wish was to be exactly like her." Dee was looking into the distance with a smile on her face as she reminisced.

"My father was something else, he was always taking me to all these different places. He said it was important to experience as much as life had to offer and broaden your horizons. He never missed a single event in my life, whether it was parents' evening or a sports day, he was there for me. Both of them were… until that day when they weren't." Dee looked down at her lap as she finished speaking. She missed them and she'd never stop missing them, but they would want her to live her life and not let their memory hold her back.

Irena gave her another squeeze, they didn't need any more words, they both understood how the other felt having both suffered the ultimate heartache. They sat like that for a while, Dee could feel the dark clouds that had been plaguing her mind were clearing just from knowing she didn't have to deal with this alone.

"Thank you…" Dee gave Irena a smile, a natural one. She was still worried but she didn't feel like she was paralysed by anxiety anymore. "I'm going to go for a wander, all my muscles will seize up if I stay sitting down all the time." She got to her feet and pulled Irena to hers.

"Come to me anytime, we don't need to talk about anything if you don't want to. We can just be in each other's company and do nothing like this." The Mouse woman squeezed Dee's hand again before she let her go and headed back to her house. The younger woman turned around and made her way out of the garden.

Dee was keeping away from the creek; she didn't want to replace one troubling line of thoughts with another. So, she wandered through the streets until she reached the edge of Santorina, she looked out at the rolling hills of Wonderland, smiling to herself as she let the natural beauty ease her heart.

"Wow! I almost didn't recognise you for a moment." A voice from her left broke her out of her thoughts and she saw Ash approaching her. He was looking at her hair with pleased surprise. "It's amazing how much a new hairstyle can completely change how a person looks."

"Like it? Irena did it for me saying we should take the chance to try out some different styles. I've never had the patience to let my hair grow out this long, so she has a point." Dee did a small turn for him to show him the braided coils at the back as well as the rest of the large plait.

"I do, it's lovely. I know you hate the blonde but I think that it really makes your eyes stand out. Light hair with dark brown eyes is a rare combination, it makes you look even more beautiful." Ash told her in an honest tone. Dee didn't do well with direct praise about her looks so she blushed lightly and averted her eyes.

"Uh-huh, I'll bet you say that to all the girls." She deadpanned, expecting Ash to laugh and banter back at her but he got an exasperated look on his face and gave an annoyed sigh instead.

"How come every time I pay you a compliment, you always treat it like a joke?" The Mouse asked. It wasn't just from him either, Dee was a master at deflecting and disbelieving any genuine attempts to admire her as a person.

"Isn't it?" Dee quipped back with a half shrug. Compliments about her cake decorating or any of her other skills would be accepted with a smile and a 'thank you'. She just didn't feel she could trust what anyone said about her looks. The warrior shook his head at her.

"I don't know if it's a defence mechanism because of your past or what, but I really wish you'd believe what I tell you at the very least." Ash stood in front of Dee with a thoughtful expression before he spoke again. "Ok, let's try this. Tell me something you like about me… lookswise, not personality."

"What?" Dee was taken aback by the request but Ash didn't look like he was going to back down so she chewed on her lip for a moment. "You… you have lovely hair; I really like the colour and you always look like you've got bedhead. It's pretty cute, if I'm honest." Dee finally managed to get that sentence out.

"Really? I didn't know that's what you thought about my hair, thank you." Ash was blushing a touch but he accepted the compliment with grace, determined to show her it was possible to do so without turning it into a joke. "My turn… You have the most amazing smile; you light up the room so much that it's really noticeable when you're sad because the whole world just seems darker." Dee's eyes widened and her instinct was to look down but she forced herself to hold the warrior's gaze.

"T-Thank you." Dee could feel her cheeks burning, but she cleared her throat and continued despite her embarrassment. "I've always loved your eyes. They are so warm and expressive, so even if you're not smiling, I can tell that you're happy just by looking into them." Ash's face broke into a gentle grin and he reached for Dee's hand and pulled her towards him, wrapping her up in a tight hug.

Maybe it was the fact that they'd just been trading compliments, but Dee felt her heartrate jump at suddenly finding herself in Ash's arms. _'Get a grip, girl, you've hugged him a hundred times before.'_ She admonished herself as she threaded her arms around him to squeeze him back. But this hug did feel different, more intimate somehow, like an embrace.

"Dee, I've been meaning to tell you something for some time now." Ash had just started to speak when there was a loud noise, it sounded almost like the ripping of cloth. As the pair looked around in confusion, it was the Mouse who spotted it first. "What in the world is that?!"

Dee followed his eyeline and saw what looked like a tear in the sky, a piece of cloud covered blueness was flapping away uselessly in the wind. Behind it there was that terrifyingly black void, exactly like that found in the Infinity Vortices and between the cracks in the Fractures. The woman felt an icy terror in her core as she feared they were truly witnessing the end of times in Wonderland.

* * *

A few days later, Dee was lying on her couch only half watching the tv. She picked up her phone for the millionth time and checked the chat group. Today was her birthday, she had been wished a 'Happy Birthday' by everyone by message this morning, but no one had come around to see her yet, or asked her over. _'Maybe they are waiting until I go to Wonderland tonight to come and see me?'_ As she thought that, her phone beeped.

:: Dee! I'm finally giving biscuits another go, would you come over to ours and help me work out what I'm doing wrong? :: The message was from Mad and Dee gave an amused huff. _'Well that's an obvious lure if I ever saw one. Surprise party, maybe?'_ She thought as she answered.

:: Sure! Not doing anything else today, be there shortly! :: Dee got up and considered getting changed into some party clothes. _'But what if it's not a pretence? I'll look pretty stupid if that's true.'_ She frowned to herself before deciding to put a nice outfit and her makeup bag in a rucksack and bring it along, just in case.

About ten minutes later, Dee knocked on the boys' apartment door. When she heard Mad call for her to come in, she braced herself before she pushed the door open… and felt completely deflated when she walked into a nearly empty room.

"Thanks for coming, Dee, and Happy Birthday again! I'm really hoping I'll be able to make the perfect batch of biscuits with you here!" Mad greeted her eagerly from the kitchen where he had already set out all the ingredients.

"No problem! I already have a sneaking suspicion as to where you might be going wrong so I'm quietly hopeful we can do this." Dee pushed her disappointment aside as she took off her coat and put her rucksack down before joining the hatter in the kitchen. "Just let me wash my hands and we'll get started."

Dee was helping in a light touch way, wanting Mad to do it himself but she was keeping a close eye on proceedings. The magician was currently sifting the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, he put the tub with the flour in it down a little heavy-handedly and the white powder dusted up.

"How come I'm the one covered in flour even though you're the one baking?" Dee coughed and waved the dust cloud away as Mad just laughed at her. "Right, you remember you need to separate the eggs? Want me to do it?" The magician thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Please. I want to bake at least one thing in this kitchen without dropping an egg on the floor." He got out of Dee's way as she grabbed a small bowl and quickly separated three eggs, putting the yolks in the mixing bowl. She tossed the shells in the bin and washed her hands before turning back to him.

"Now you need to mix in those yolks to make the batter bind together but don't overwork the dough. This is your entire problem I feel." Dee told Mad as he picked up a wooden spoon, consciously trying to stir the batter without going too hard.

"How's this look?" The hatter held the bowl out to her and Dee felt the texture of the dough, giving him an encouraging nod. "Great, let's clear some space so I can roll it out." The pair of them tidied away the ingredients and dusted the countertop with some more flour.

"Try not to roll the dough out too thinly, thin biscuits are more likely to crack." Dee warned him as Mad rolled the stiff batter into a sheet. She grabbed a round cookie cutter. "Try and waste as little dough as possible on the first rollout, again so you don't have to overwork the batter."

The hatter nodded as he stamped out as many biscuits as he could from the batter, transferring them to a lined baking sheet. He collected the waste dough and rolled it out again to get a few more before calling it quits. Mad slid the sheet into the preheated oven and Dee set a timer on her phone.

"In fifteen minutes, we'll know whether I've finally got the hang of biscuits." The magician crossed the fingers on both hands with a dramatic look on his face. Dee laughed and pulled him with her into the living room.

"Enough time for a cup of tea then, come on, no use staring at them through the glass." She told him as the pair of them sat down and Mad waved his cane and a tea set appeared on the table. Dee took a cup and spoke up. "You know, I've been wondering, did you and Opera get along when you were growing up together?"

"Oh! We got along like a house on fire! She was usually the one who was looking after me because our parents were often so busy. I don't see her as frequently as I'd like but I try to drop in on her as much as I can." Mad chatted away eagerly about his life growing up. "She was the one who gave me the nickname Mad Hatter actually." Dee very nearly spat her tea out in surprise.

"Nickname?! What's your actual name then?!" The woman asked him in complete shock. Mad frowned and looked down, not really wanting to tell her that.

"Madrigal. Opera shortened it down to Mad and added 'Hatter' on the end because it flows off the tongue better than 'Mad Tea Party Enthusiast'. I liked that nickname and I've used it ever since." The magician looked to Dee and saw she was barely holding in her laughter and grimaced. "Please don't ever call me by my full name, I hate it."

"Ok, ok. I promise I won't, just stop looking at me like that." Dee managed to get herself under control, it was a shock to learn about his real name but she'd die before she purposefully hurt his feelings. The timer went off on her phone and the pair of them got up and went back into the kitchen. Mad opened the oven door and pulled the tray out with oven gloves.

"They smell good at least, none of them are cracked either." Mad looked very hopeful as he put the tray down on the side. "Hurry up and cool down so I can see whether you're too hard or not!" Dee laughed at Mad's impatient plea, she grabbed a magazine and used it to fan the biscuits. The magician took off his hat and did the same.

"There, they should be cool enough to eat now. Try one." Dee encouraged Mad after they had fanned the biscuits for a few minutes. The hatter picked up one and took a tentative bite before a grin crossed his face as he chewed.

"They're crunchy but not hard enough to break any teeth! We did it!" Mad cheered and ate the rest of the biscuit. Dee grabbed one for herself and tried it.

"Looks like I was right, you were overworking the dough. Now you know that, you shouldn't have any more problems." She smiled at Mad, about to grab her tea cup and try dunking the biscuit when the magician let out a horrified gasp.

"Oh no! I just remembered I have a very important appointment in Wonderland!" Mad had his hand over his mouth in shock. "Dee, I know it's terribly rude of me to invite you over to help me and then leave you in the lurch but I can't get out of this, I'm sorry! I promise I'll make it up to you. Here! Take the rest of the biscuits!" The hatter picked up the tray and poured them into a clean tea towel that he tied up and pushed into Dee's hands.

"You don't have to apologise to me, I had fun baking with you and if something's come up then that can't be helped. I'll see you soon, right?" Dee took the towel in hand before she grabbed her coat and rucksack, giving Mad another wave before walking out the apartment.

When the door closed behind her, Dee gave a small sigh. '_Well… that was abrupt. But it's just like Mad to forget an appointment when he gets distracted by something else.'_ The woman adjusted the knot on the towel so she could hold on to it easier as she walked back to her flat. It was already dark out by the time she got back, she unlocked the door and bumped it open with her hip, flicking on the lights.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Dee dropped her keys and the tea towel as she jumped at the group greeting. Her living room was filled with her friends, they'd strung banners and streamers around, the kitchen counters were covered in food and the coffee table had a medium sized box on it wrapped in gift wrap. Dee's face broke out into a grin once she got over her initial shock.

"Oh my God! You guys! This is amazing! But how did you get in when I've got the keys?" Dee was taking her coat off when Mad appeared behind her, giving her a sly wink as he took it to hang it up for her. Humpty and Dumpty bounded over and gave her a double hug.

"Bill tried to pick the lock but when that didn't work, I used my teleportation magic and opened the door from the inside." Noir explained as he lent down and picked up the things that Dee had dropped in surprise.

"The fact that an amazing former thief like me couldn't pick your lock makes me confident that no ordinary burglar could break in, so I'm not even mad." Bill was grinning, glad that they'd managed to pull off their surprise perfectly. "Bet you thought the party was gonna be at ours."

"I sure did, I opened the door and it was like 'Oh ok, maybe not then'. But you completely got me this time." Dee admitted with a nod as she grabbed her rucksack again. "I'm going to go and quickly get changed, I'll say hi to everyone properly then. Be right back!" The birthday girl ran up the stairs to her ensuite in excitement.

A few minutes later, Dee came down the stairs and the whole room did a double take. The woman was wearing a dark green and black tie-dye dress cinched in tightly at the waist with a wide black belt. The dress came to just below knee level and she'd paired it with some calf-high boots. The neckline was low but not indecently so, she'd put on a little make-up sparingly and had kept her normal everyday accessories on. Joker wolf-whistled with an evil grin.

"Who would have thought there was such a fine looking woman hiding under those t-shirts and jeans?" He was teasing her but the sentiment was real. Dee shook her head at him as Sakuto approached her, taking her hand, bowing and kissing the back of it in the process.

"You'd better enjoy it while it lasts, I only make this sort of effort on special occasions." Dee smiled at Sakuto as she answered Joker before heading to the kitchen where Cardia handed her a glass of wine. That was when she saw the freshly baked birthday cake, it was handmade and hand decorated. Admittedly it wouldn't be winning any competitions but the effort that had gone into the slightly lopsided sprinkle covered monstrosity was obvious.

"Shall we get these candles lit so you can make a wish?" Ash asked her as he picked up a barbeque safety lighter.

"Yes, but I'll be the one lighting them." Dee took the lighter off him and lit the candles, everyone gathered around her to sing 'Happy Birthday' before the birthday girl made a silent wish and blew all the candles out.

"What did you wish for?" Humpty asked as Mad picked up a cake knife and started cutting the cake into slices. Noir shook his head in exasperation.

"She can't tell you or it won't come true… That's the way wishes work, I'm afraid. Come on, gift time." The Cat led the woman over to the couch and got her to sit down. The twins immediately started bickering over who would give Dee the gift until Sakuto suggested that they do it together in order to avoid a meltdown and/or fight.

It seemed that everyone had had a discussion about what to do for her birthday and had come up with a themed group present. Inside the box there was a stand with a number of cooking and baking tools, the stand was wooden but the utensils varied, some being metal, plastic, wood or otherwise. It looked like everyone had taken one implement each and painted it themselves before either signing it or writing a message on the handles. When Dee realised the thought and effort that had gone into her gift, she clutched the stand to her chest, a little overwhelmed.

"Thank you! I'm never using anything else for baking and cooking again. Full stop." The woman blinked away her tears, glad she'd gone for waterproof makeup as she took a closer look at the individual utensils. "Did you make the stand for this, Bill?" She asked, it was a unique shape, designed to showcase all the tools without being too impractical.

"Yep, I'd have signed that too but the stand isn't really the important part. Don't worry, the paints have been sealed with food grade varnish so you shouldn't have any problems using them." The carpenter replied with a nod. Dee stood up and put her new tools in pride of place on her kitchen counter before making a point to go around and give everyone a hug and thank them personally.

After that, the party got fully underway. Dee had turned on her stereo system so there was some background music as she and her friends ate the food, chatted and she played a few party games with the kids. She was currently playing hide and seek with them and she headed up the stairs to the split level after checking everywhere downstairs. Dee smiled to herself as she immediately heard giggling coming from under her bed but she made a show of checking her wardrobe first before sitting down on the bed near them.

"Well I don't know, wherever could those two be?" The birthday girl spoke out loud in mock puzzlement. "GOTCHA!" She suddenly shouted as she bent down and tickled the pair of them. The twins shrieked in delight as they squirmed away and bolted over to the railings, beginning to climb them.

"Don't you DARE! …Jump and I'll NEVER play with you two again!" The other guests looked up at Dee's angry shout. Cardia gasped when he saw Humpty and Dumpty with one leg each over the bannister. Joker darted up the stairs as the twins slowly got back down guiltily. Dee left the scolding to him as she tried to stop the panic induced racing of her heart by heading on to the balcony to get some air.

Dee opened the sliding door and walked out into the chilly winter night, closing it behind her as she saw Ash was already out here, gazing up at the stars. He looked to her as Dee walked to the railings and lent on them with a sigh.

"You ok? Heard you shouting from here." The Mouse asked, he hadn't been able to see what happened due to the folding screens being drawn but he could make a decent guess based on what he had heard. Dee nodded and gave him a half smile, grateful for his concern.

"Yeah, just think I might have lost five years of my life right there." She replied, shivering as a cold breeze caught her. At seeing that, Ash came towards her, standing right up behind her, putting his hands on the railing on either side of hers.

"I'd tell you to go back inside but knowing you, you won't want to go back in until you've calmed down so I'll try and shield you from the worst of the wind instead." Dee gave a wry smile; Ash knew her so well it was scary sometimes. Instead of responding she allowed herself to lean back into him slightly, feeling his body heat through her back. Dee jumped a little in surprise when Ash suddenly embraced her from behind.

"I was trying to tell you something important the other day…" The mouse warrior's lips were close to Dee's left ear and she felt the tickle of his breath across her cheek. The feeling sent lightning shocks through her and her heartrate quickened again. "I've tried to hint at it to you before, but I think I've been being too subtle. I'd like to tell you now, if that's ok? …But if you don't want to hear it then just say so and I'll never mention it again."

Despite Ash's calm tone, Dee could feel that his heart was beating just as fast as hers. _'He's scared but he's still giving me a choice and not forcing what he wants to say on me.'_ It was sadly true that not many people had been that respectful towards her feelings in the past. Dee hesitated before covering the Mouse's arms with her own, interlacing the fingers of their hands. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her ear.

"I want to hear it… I need to hear it. So, please tell me?" Dee kept her eyes forward as she spoke softly. Ash was quiet for a few moments, perhaps he was going over it in his head, trying to work out how best to say it. But Dee didn't rush him, she waited patiently for him to get his thoughts in order.

"I'm… I'm completely crazy about you and I have been for some time now. Your strength, your spirit, your drive, your humility, your wit, everything. I love it all. So much so that if anyone except one of the guys comes near you, I'm about ready to dropkick them into next week." That last part surprised a chuckle out of Dee, Ash was normally so laid back he was horizontal. The fact that he could be jealous seemed so out of character for him.

"I meant what I said that night near Opera's place. Everything I currently have is thanks to you. But I don't want you to think this is some sort of gratitude complex because it isn't. Our lives being thrown together like they were just gave me the opportunity to fall in love with you, it wasn't the reason behind it." Ash squeezed Dee a little more tightly in his arms. "I know you've been hurt so, so badly in the past but I'm really hoping you can trust that my feelings for you are real." As he finished speaking, he pressed a soft kiss behind her ear.

For her part, Dee was floored, she'd suspected this was what Ash wanted to tell her but she hadn't realised that this had been going on for longer than the last few weeks. After having her feelings betrayed so many times in the past, she'd naturally began believing that she wasn't desirable as a woman. This belief had taken root deep inside her, manifesting itself as the occasional insecure comment about her weight or appearance and her tendency to deflect any compliments she received. Finally though, she began to speak.

"If I said I wasn't scared by all this then I'd be a liar, and a bad one at that. I'm not afraid of you hurting me, I know you'd never do that on purpose. I'm scared of losing what we already have, I treasure your friendship, if I was to lose that it would be more painful than anything I've felt in a long long time." Dee bit her lip before continuing.

"But I'm trying not to let fear rule me anymore, I lived like that for far too long. You said you were sleepwalking through your life, Ash? Well so was I. You say I woke you up and gave you your life back? Well you all did the same thing for me. I'm scared but I'm trying so hard because I want to trust your feelings for me… and mine for you." It took a lot for Dee to make that final admission, Ash released the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

The warrior lifted a slightly trembling hand and used it to gently turned Dee's head to the side, tilting it upwards slightly and their eyes met. Then Ash lent in slowly, giving the woman the chance to pull away if that was what she wanted. But Dee didn't, she just closed her eyes and their lips met. A hesitant brush together to start with but it sent a shockwave through the pair of them. One of them deepened the kiss, it didn't matter who as the other responded in kind, Ash's hand had gone from under Dee's chin to her cheek when the kiss finally broke.

"I don't want to rush you, Dee, if you need some time to sort your head out and figure out your feelings, then I'll wait because I know it's not that easy to shrug off the chains of the past." Ash's thumb was gently caressing her cheek as he gazed at her with those warm amber eyes. "Thank you for listening to how I feel… and for telling me how you feel too." Dee smiled at the warrior about to thank him back when she caught sight of a flash in her peripheral vision.

"Ash look! It's a shooting star! Quick, make a wish!" Dee cried out in excitement before closing her eyes to make her own wish. When she opened her eyes, she asked. "Did you make one?"

"Yep, sure did. But you're pretty lucky, you've been able to make two wishes in one day." Ash glanced over his shoulder. "I guess I'd better give the guest of honour back or they'll send out a search party before long. I meant everything that I said though, I want to be with you and I'm more than willing to wait for your answer." Dee nodded as she reluctantly stepped out of the Mouse's arms and the pair of them finally went back inside.

* * *

Dee was staring into space again; she was brought out of her thoughts by the lory nuzzling her cheek softly. The woman hadn't been herself ever since her hair started completely changing colour, she'd just sit in the glade and get lost in her mind. Though she would pet and speak to the little bird whenever she felt it trying to comfort her.

"I don't know what to do, Lory, I'm absolutely certain I like Ash as more than a friend but every single romantic relationship I've had in the past ended with my heart being ripped open." Dee sighed as she let the bird perch on her hand so she could stroke it's soft feathers.

"I know that Ash doesn't care about my money so I know he'd never betray me that way… But sometimes things don't work out. What if we broke up and couldn't go back to what we have now? What if he only thinks he loves me because he associates me with the joy of restoring his clan?" Dee put the lory back on her shoulder as she shook her head and gave a disgusted tut.

"Just listen to me! Wonderland is coming apart at the seams, I'm under some sort of unknown curse and here I am, worrying about my love life! How pathetic and selfish am I?" Dee drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she hid her face, her shoulders beginning to shake.

The lory chirruped sadly as it hopped it's way down to Dee's forearm, nuzzling her head until the woman looked up marginally. The bird gently drank the tears in the corner of her eyes, Dee could almost hear the lory telling her not to cry. She cradled her little friend in both her hands and kissed the top of it's feathered head.

"Thank you…" Dee sniffled and blinked away the last of her tears. "I need to stop beating myself up for being a normal person who has normal feelings, hopes and fears. I can't control what's happening with Wonderland or my curse. I can't even control Ash's feelings for me. All I can do is listen to myself and be loyal to my own heart." The lory chittered happily and flapped it's wings as Dee was overcome with drowsiness once again.

Dee was surprised to find herself outside Opera's cabin when she opened her eyes. Without having any better ideas, she knocked on the door and walked in when she heard someone calling from inside. When she went in, she saw the Green Witch and Noir up to their elbows in books and magical equipment, working hard. _'Well that explains why I landed here then.' _Dee thought at seeing the Black King.

"Hello there! Nice of you to come and see me. We're just looking into your curse; we've performed so many experiments on your hair that we might need to cut off some more." Opera greeted her enthusiastically as she beckoned Dee closer.

"Are you sure you should be wasting time with my issues? Isn't the situation in Wonderland more pressing right now?" The woman gave the pair of them an unsure look. More and more anomalies were appearing every day, the national governments had their hands full keeping the increasingly panicked populations in order while still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. The Cat looked up from his microscope and shot Dee an annoyed look.

"So what? Just because Wonderland's in trouble, we're meant to forget about you? Don't say ridiculous things like that. Besides, everyone else is working on the distortion issue, they can spare us two to look into your curse." That seemed to be the last thing Noir wanted to say on the matter as he went back to his work.

Dee was touched by his compassion, even though her instinct was to argue the point more. However, she caught Opera looking at her in interest… or more specifically, looking at her chest. _'That's right! Ash said that Opera could see 'Hearts'! I'll ask her if mine has changed any.'_ Before she could overthink anything, Dee grabbed the witch by the hand and dragged her out of the cabin.

"You want to ask me about your 'Heart', right?" The magician asked once they were out of earshot. Dee just nodded shyly, not trusting herself to speak right now as she broke out in a cold sweat. "It's changed colour. Before it was midnight blue, now… it's the deepest crimson that I've ever seen. Red with the subtlest hints of purple. I'm so ha-" The Green Witch looked up at Dee and her face froze.

"O-opera? What's wrong?" Dee asked in alarm as Opera reached out and gripped the sides of her head in both her hands, staring deeply into Dee's eyes in concern. "Come on! You're frightening me!"

"NOIR! Get out here!" The magician shouted, the Cat clattering out the door a second later. Opera turned Dee's face towards him. "Look! Her eyes have turned blue!" The Black King gasped in shock and he came to take a closer look for himself.

"Whatever this is, it's progressing again like it did before when the rest of your hair turned. We still have no idea what's triggering it." Noir had his lips pressed into a thin line in worry. "This might call for drastic containment measures. Opera, I wouldn't normally ask you to use so much power but it's urgent, open a gate back to Dee's place in the Alice world, please."

"On it." The witch tapped the ground with her staff, closing her eyes and muttering an incantation. A portal opened in front of her and Dee could see her bedroom through it. Noir took her by the hand and stepped through, pulling the woman with him. It was the middle of the night, so the first thing Dee did was walk and turn on the lamp beside her bed.

"Why did you take me back home, Noir?" She queried as she turned around to face him. The purple haired man walked over to her and touched her hair gently before looking in her eyes.

"Good, your eyes are brown and your hair is shorter and russet coloured again… Dee, Wonderland isn't safe for you at the moment. I'm scared that this curse will run its course before we can break it, we need a way to buy ourselves some more time." Noir walked over to Dee's dresser and picked up her 'totem' – the stained glass jewellery box.

"What?! No!" Dee exclaimed as she immediately felt tears fill her eyes. "Don't take Wonderland away from me, I beg you!" Noir looked like this was breaking his heart too but he tried to give the woman a reassuring smile.

"I'm only borrowing this; I'll give it back to you once we've figured everything out. I promise you as the Black King." The Cat's voice was noble and dignified as he spoke like he was issuing a proclamation, but Dee just shook her head in anger.

"I don't want your promise as king!" Her voice was tight and her words came out haltingly as she tried to contain her sorrow so she could speak. "I want your promise as one of my best friends! I want you to promise me that you won't leave me all alone in this world!" Noir came over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I promise you, Dee, we won't leave you alone. We'll see you soon and you'll be in Wonderland again before you know it. Be strong for me." Dee felt him give her a kiss to the top of her head before he let her go, heading down the stairs and out the flat, taking the jewellery box with him.

Dee waited until she heard the door close before she sunk down at her vanity table, resting her head on her arms as she sobbed like a child. She believed that Noir wouldn't break his promise to her on purpose but she couldn't help the tragic scenarios racing through her brain. _'What if something happens to Wonderland and I never know what happened to them? What if Wonderland just falls apart and stops existing? I don't want to go back to being all alone.'_

Dee didn't know how long she wept for before she finally raised her head and caught sight of herself in the mirror. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, thinking they were playing a cruel trick on her. It was her face but her reflection had long blonde hair, blue eyes and was wearing a blue and white dress, the lory was perched on her right shoulder. The woman looked down at herself but she was still wearing her normal clothes.

"What do you want from me?" Dee found herself whispering to the woman in the mirror. "Why am I cursed? Is it somehow connected to the strange distortions in Wonderland?" The thought had crossed her mind more than once but she'd dismissed the idea, more out of fear of the connotations if there was a link.

"I am at the end of my strength, soon I won't be able to sustain Wonderland anymore and the whole realm will fall into the void." To Dee's surprise, it was the lory who finally spoke to her and she blinked in shock. "Dee, you're the only one who can save me. If you do, Wonderland and all your friends will be safe."

"Me? What can I do? I can't even get into Wonderland without my totem!" Dee's voice was full of tears and frustration at her own powerlessness. The mirror shimmered, the image distorting until it showed the rolling green hills that she loved so much. The woman gasped and reached out a hesitant hand, when her fingers touched the glass, it rippled like the water on the surface of a lake.

Dee withdrew her hand and sniffled. _'What am I doing just sitting here? I don't know how the hell someone like me can save everyone but I'll be damned if I'm not even going to try!'_ Dee didn't care as her things fell to the floor as she climbed on to the dresser and crawled through the mirror, coming out on the grass. She got to her feet and looked behind her but the portal was already gone.

"I know this area." Dee muttered as she looked around, she'd found this place while trying to track down the glade from her dream. There was what appeared to be a large thicket but for some reason, she could never find a clear route into it. "It can't be a coincidence I'm here… Maybe there's some sort of illusion magic at work."

The woman walked around the thicket, testing for any weak spots with her hands. Eventually she came to a tree that she was fairly certain was fake. Going from her memories of the glen in her dreams, she was pretty sure this should be a trail. However, the tree felt real enough when she touched it. _'The magic must be playing a trick with my mind, telling me I see and feel something in front of me.'_

Not being capable of magic herself, Dee decided the only way she could defeat this illusion was by running and jumping into the tree. Hopefully it would be too fast for the spell to trick her brain. _'Well, this is either gonna work or this is gonna hurt!'_ She took a deep breath, going for a short run up before leaping into the tree with her eyes closed.

Dee fell to the ground with an 'oof' and when she opened her eyes, she saw the familiar glade and grinned as she sat up. She looked around and saw the big tree with the flower band wrapped around it, this was definitely the right place.

"Lory! Lory, where are you?" Dee called out as she got to her feet, she waited for a moment but there was no response. The woman frowned, looking around in worry before her eyes fell on the rabbit hole. "…This is such a terrible idea but what other choice do I have?"

Dee crouched down and squirmed into the small space, it was a tight fit but she could half crawl, half shimmy herself forward. Not much light was getting in from the outside so she didn't realise that the tunnel turned vertical sharply until she put her hand down expecting to feel solid ground and instead fell into the darkness with a startled scream.

* * *

Meanwhile in Gardenia, Sakuto had summoned everyone including Ruber and Opera to Chalk Castle for an urgent meeting. They had gathered in one of the many archival rooms in the castle library. Noir was the last one to arrive and he put a familiar jewellery box on the table as he took his seat.

"Dee's eyes had changed colour from brown to blue so I decided the Alice world was the safest place for her to be right now." The Black King explained before looking at the White Prince. "So, what's the deal? You've found something about the anomalies, I assume?"

"Yes, but not only that. I think I might have found a connection to Dee's curse too." There was an audible gasp from Ash and everyone stared at the prince in anticipation as Sakuto retrieved an old wooden box and placed it on the table. He took off the moon rabbit crest he wore on his chest and used it to unlock the casket. "I was going through the archives when I came across this. There's a letter in here written by my ancestor, King Tsukito, he ruled Gardenia around 150 years ago. It seems he wanted this to be found by his descendants."

"150 years ago? So, in other words, right around the time when voids, Fractures and Tears started appearing the first time around?" Bill looked at the others around the table, daring to hope there might be something in this ancient letter that finally tells them what to do.

"Yes, I only read the first few paragraphs before I realised it related to our situation so I summoned you here as soon as possible. I'll start the letter from the beginning. But be warned, Tsukito appears to have written this with a Memory Quill." Sakuto took the letter from the box, taking a deep breath before he began.

'_I write these words to confess a crime, a crime the other leaders of Wonderland and I have committed against an innocent young girl. Many years ago, an outsider accidentally found her way into Wonderland. She was a sweet child, pure and kind-hearted. Her name was Alice.'_

The scenery around the group changed and they found themselves looking through the eyes of King Tsukito as he had tea with a girl with blue eyes, long blonde hair, wearing a blue dress with a black hair ribbon.

"Oh, do have some more cake, Alice! You know how much I enjoy your company; I love hearing about the other world from you. Don't you, Sonata?" The King's eyes moved to a beautiful woman with long brown hair and emerald eyes. The lady waved her staff and another plate of cupcakes appeared.

"Absolutely, I would never have believed there was such a place if you hadn't come to Wonderland. I've been doing so much research into the links between our worlds that I'm afraid I'm neglecting my duties as Queen of Alchemilla." Sonata smiled as Alice excitedly picked up one of the cakes.

"You're unbelievable, Lady Sonata. I can't believe you were able to create a stable bridge between our worlds." The girl reached and pulled a necklace out from under her dress, it was a treble clef pendant on a chain. "What did you call this again? A totem?"

'_Alice was as fascinated with our world as we were with hers. Her charming demeanour and radiant personality even managed to win over the relatively harder heart of Queen Cardinal of Protea after initially getting off on the wrong foot. King Onyx of Gentiana was warier, a suspicious soul, he thought she might have been a bad omen.'_

Images flashed through of Alice's initial foray into Wonderland where she got into trouble with the Red Queen for helping some card gardeners to paint the roses red. Even though Alice was much younger than Dee, they could all see similarities, especially the way the blonde girl offered to help anyone she found in trouble without hesitation.

'_After some time, strange things started to appear all over our world. Holes of nothingness, jagged rips in the sky and shattered lakes and rivers. Initially only one or two examples, but the distortions quickly multiplied. Wonderland was falling apart. Chaos and anarchy were threatening to break out while we all tried to reverse whatever was happening.'_

A montage of familiar scenes began playing; Infinity Vortices, Fractures and Tears. The citizens of Wonderland protesting outside the castles of their monarchs, demanding answers, demanding action. Through Tsukito's eyes they saw Sonata and a woman dressed in red regal clothing studying samples anxiously.

'_Everything came to a head on one night. The night the moon turned red.'_

"Move out of my way, Tsukito!" A man in black armour shouted angrily before glancing up and pointing to the sky. "Do you see that?! The moon is drenched in blood! I told you that girl was bad news!" The red moon hung ominously in the night sky; storm clouds had gathered as a freezing rain pelted down.

"She's just a child, Onyx! She's not responsible for this! No more than you and I are! Cardinal, Sonata! Talk some sense into him!" The White King appealed to the two women standing nearby before he checked backwards over his shoulder. Alice was cowering in fright, tears in her eyes and drenched to the bone.

"I don't think she's consciously the cause, Tsukito…" Cardinal's maroon hair was sticking to her face as she shivered. "But maybe all this stuff is happening because we've been crossing boundaries that we shouldn't. Sonata! You agree it's a plausible theory at least, right?" The Green Queen closed her eyes and nodded solemnly.

"I think we should send Alice back to her world for good. If that doesn't stop the appearance of the anomalies then we'll know we were wrong." Sonata walked towards them slowly, she knelt down in front of Alice, not caring about the mud. "I'm so sorry, child, but I'll need that necklace back." The blonde girl was sobbing but she took off the treble clef necklace with a shaking hand and dropped it into the magician's palm.

"I'll open a door for you to go home, back to where you belong." Cardinal shut her eyes and mumbled to herself. When she waved her short sceptre, a portal appeared showing a luscious green garden behind a manor at night. Tsukito helped Alice to her feet, pulling out his handkerchief and wiping the tears from the girl's face.

"Don't forget me, ok? Promise that you'll always remember me!" Alice's crystal blue eyes looked up at the White King with such innocence as she pleaded with him. Tsukito patted her on the head in a fatherly gesture.

"Of course, I promise. No one could ever forget you, Alice. Now go on, go home." The king turned her around and gave her a gentle push from behind towards the portal. Alice was no more than two steps away from home when a black void opened up under her. Alice disappeared into the Infinity Vortex with a piercing scream. Tsukito and Sonata threw themselves to their knees at the side of the sinkhole.

'_It all happened too quickly. I screamed out her name in desperation, Sonata and Cardinal both tried to cast spells to retrieve her while Onyx paced the edge of the Vortex like a caged tiger. We were all so concerned with Alice that we didn't notice initially.'_

"Hey! Look over there!" Cardinal's voice rang out and Tsukito looked up from the edge of the void. The moon had turned back to white while a nearby Tear in the sky vanished in a blink of an eye.

"S-see! I told you it was her fault! This proves it!" Onyx declared as his look of worry transformed into an expression full of relief as distortions all around them began to disappear without a trace, including the Vortex in front of them. "Now that she's gone, Wonderland can finally go back to normal! We're saved!"

Tsukito was suddenly filled with an indescribable rage, before even he knew it, he had slammed Onyx back into the nearest tree. He had his left forearm pressed hard against the Black King's throat; his eyes blurry with tears.

"How can you even say something like that?! She was just a child! A sweet innocent child… and now she's…" The White King released Onyx and sank to his knees, his heart shattered into pieces.

'_Afterwards we told no one what had happened. We pretended that the stabilisation was a spontaneous occurrence, buried our guilt and moved on with our lives. Onyx and Cardinal still believed that Alice was the root cause of the distortions so they banned outsiders from Wonderland, I don't believe she was but I couldn't blame them for taking the actions they felt necessary. But I could never forgive them for turning her name into a blackened word. I don't know how but Alice saved Wonderland. She deserved better from us._

_I know Sonata continued her research into the other world and the anomalies. She didn't believe Alice was the cause either, so she dedicated her life to discovering the truth. I don't know how successful she was because we could never bring ourselves to speak about what happened, it was too painful for both of us._

_To whoever may be reading this, I won't ask your forgiveness. I'm an old man now, I kept my promise to Alice and the only thing I would ask of you is to continue remembering her in my place. I truly hope the distortions never return, but if they do, don't make the same mistake we did. Sacrifice is always too big a price to pay. These are the last words of King Tsukito of Gardenia.'_

No one spoke for the longest time when Sakuto finished reading. The weight of what they'd heard and seen pressed down on them heavily, like a bank of fog rolling off the sea at night. It was cold and clawing, threatening to suffocate them all. Ruber felt truly sick for every time she'd said the word 'Alice' in the Wonderland sense and she vowed to always honour that name from now on.

"Opera… Have you ever come across anything about this in Sonata's papers?" Mad's voice shook as he questioned his older sister. The Green Witch wiped the tears staining her cheeks before she started to speak.

"She theorised once that Wonderland itself was a living, breathing entity. Creating this realm through magic or some other cosmic force. She wrote that she believed this source of power was finite and the anomalies were the physical manifestations of that supply running out. It sounded a little farfetched to me so I initially disregarded it." The magician told them all she knew, which still wasn't much.

"Maybe when Alice fell into the Vortex, she somehow replenished this magical energy with her life. Even though there were stories of other people falling into the void, none of them halted the distortions. It must have been because she was from the other world." Noir spoke as if he was thinking aloud, carefully taking these separate threads and drawing them together. "We may have just found the grain of truth behind those immortality rumours."

"Something is bothering me though. Alice dying and stabilising Wonderland at the same time looked like a freak accident. There was no way anyone could have predicted that an Infinity Vortex would open at that exact moment, right? Then why is Dee's curse making her look like the original Alice?" Joker played with the chain necklace he always wore as he spoke.

"If Wonderland has awareness and knows it's dying, then it knows from experience what the cure is this time around. Hell, Alice's death might not have been an accident at all if that's right. My point is… I think Wonderland itself cursed Dee." A chill went down Ash's spine as Joker finished speaking and he turned to Mad, his eyes wide open in fear.

"I have a terrible feeling about this, use your magic to look for Dee and I'll hope I'm wrong…" The Mouse and everyone else at the table watched as Mad closed his eyes in concentration as he did as he was asked. His bright green eyes sprung open in shock after a few moments.

"She's here! I can't get a lock on her but she's definitely in Wonderland!" The magician exclaimed and everyone got to their feet.

"But how?! I have her totem right here!" Noir spluttered in disbelief, all of them on the verge of near panic at this turn of events.

"That's not important right now! We need to find Dee and stop history from repeating itself! Everyone divide into groups of two and split up. Each pair should have at least one mage so we can try and track Dee's position using magic." Sakuto took control of the situation with the skill of a true leader. That done, the eight of them ran out of the castle, where to their horror, they found night had fallen and a dark red moon was beaming down on them.

* * *

Elsewhere, Dee's consciousness came back as she realised she had one hell of a headache. She opened her eyes blearily and saw nothing but blackness above her. She pushed herself up to sitting and pressed a hand to the back of her head, she hissed in pain and her fingers came away bloodied.

"Where the hell am I?" She appeared to be in some sort of pit, she was just about able to make out her environment through the gloom as her eyes adjusted. Not that that helped much as all she was surrounded with was empty space. Dee got to her feet, a little unsteady from the bang to the head she'd sustained.

"You're at the end of the rabbit hole, where all voids lead to eventually." The female voice made her jump and spin around. A beautiful woman wearing vibrant robes made from colourful feathers was standing in front of Dee. The stranger had wavy red hair that flowed down her back like water, her face was partially hidden by an eye mask made of green feathers that complimented her olive skin tone and chestnut eyes.

"Who are you?" Dee breathed out her enquiry, entranced by her beauty. Part of her felt like she should know the answer to that question even though she was sure she'd never laid eyes on this woman before.

"I am Wonderland, Dee. I am responsible for this realm's very existence. Unfortunately sustaining an alternate reality takes power… power that I'm rapidly running out of." Her voice was clear like the ringing of a bell as she gave the woman a warm smile. Her words sounded familiar and Dee came to a realisation.

"You're Lory, aren't you? You said I was the only one who could save you and help Wonderland! I'll help! Please, tell me what I need to do!" Dee grabbed Wonderland's hand with both of hers, imploring her. Wonderland's deep eyes wavered in sadness as she let a small sigh escape.

"Will you still say that when you know that the only thing that will save me is your life energy?" Wonderland watched as Dee gasped in shock and uncertainty crossed her face. "I thought so… I didn't want this, I waited as long as I could and I tried to draw your friends' attention to the danger you were in. I hoped they might absolve me of this dreadful choice… but we're out of time."

"You're the one who cursed me…" Dee whispered as she lifted some of her blonde hair and stared at it. "… No, it wasn't a curse. It was a warning, wasn't it?" Wonderland nodded sadly and squeezed Dee's hand.

"Yes, 150 years ago I had run out of strength, again I'd held on as long as I could. I didn't want the hundreds of people who lived in the realm I created to disappear into the void but I had no more power. Just as I closed my eyes for what I thought would be the final time, I was unexpectedly revived." A single tear rolled down Wonderland's face and she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"A child from your world had fallen into an Infinity Vortex… and I'd absorbed her life energy without realising it. I and all the people in Wonderland were saved. The logical part of me said that one life lost to save countless others was a reasonable price to pay. But still, my heart hated that sentiment and I've had a century and a half to think about whether I would pay that much again, but freely this time." Wonderland suddenly collapsed and sunk to the ground like a rag doll, Dee yelped in fright and knelt beside her, gathering the woman in her arms.

"I've wavered back and forth between one choice and the other an infinite number of times. I still hadn't made my mind up when I spoke to you through the mirror. But now I have… I can't. I won't. If my time is up then so be it, I won't steal someone else's precious life again. Wonderland will just come to an end. Don't worry though, you'll wake up in your own world once that happens. Call it a bit of cosmic housekeeping if you will." Wonderland looked up at Dee with such a serene expression, even as tears dripped on to her face from above.

"How can you smile when you say something like that to me? Don't I get a say in the matter?" Dee's voice was hoarse as she cradled Wonderland in her arms. "I'd give my life over in an instant to save this world, the world that all my friends live in. Don't you understand? There's nothing left for me in my old life, the people I love are here and I want them to live!" Suddenly the pit was filled with light as both Dee and Wonderland began to glow.

"What? …This energy, how can this be?" Wonderland's voice was filled with alarm. "No! I said no! I don't want it! I don't want this!" She tried to break out of Dee's grasp but the woman just held on to her tighter.

"It's ok, Lory, you don't have to feel guilty. You didn't take my life; I gave it to you. I even forced you to accept it. So, it's alright…" It was Dee's turn to smile as the light surrounding them grew brighter.

"It's not alright! Dee, no!" Wonderland thrashed uselessly, she was too weak to break away and she couldn't prevent herself from absorbing the energy the woman was emitting. "Let me go! Sa-" A brighter flash of light stole her words away. Before both their eyes, a heart shaped crimson crystal manifested in the air above the pair of them.

"Is that… my 'Heart'?" Dee whispered before a teary smile spread across her face. "It's beautiful… I'm truly glad that I had the chance to make something so wonderful before I left. I know the others will be sad, but please tell them that I have no regrets... I'm ready to save Wonderland." As if responding to her words, the Awakening Crystal twinkled in all seven shades of the rainbow before everything turned to light.

"Oh!" Mad stopped running suddenly, making Ash stop reluctantly and look at him impatiently. The hatter closed his eyes trying to focus for a moment before he opened them again. "Dee's presence. I lost it. She's not in Wonderland anymore!" The Mouse went pale and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

"T-that's ok, she's probably just back at hers now. I-it doesn't necessarily mean anything bad." Ash started babbling, trying to banish his panic with words. When his best friend didn't answer him, the warrior turned to find Mad staring up at the sky with silent tears running down his face. The moon was white again.

Ash was sprinting before he even realised it, he didn't hear Mad calling after him. He ignored everyone in Santorina as he tore past them. He bashed the door to his house open, ran into his room and picked up his totem, his pillow. The Mouse closed his eyes and tried to calm his heart so he could concentrate.

When Ash opened them again, he was in his bedroom in the other world. He dropped the pillow and took off once more. He ran with tunnel vision, one goal in mind, the tiniest flame of hope in his heart that he was refusing to let go out. The warrior ran up fifteen flights of stairs because he couldn't bring himself to wait for the lift. He pounded on Dee's door, not waiting for an answer as he tried the handle to find it locked. Still wearing his greatsword, he drew it from his back, and with a guttural growl, he cleaved through the door with one swing.

"Dee!" Ash shouted as he clambered his way over the splintered remnants of the door and into the flat. The apartment was quiet, it was still covered with streamers and there was leftover food in the kitchen from the birthday party that they had had literally yesterday. The Mouse looked around frantically before taking the stairs three at a time to check the bedroom.

The lamp besides the bed was still on and Ash found his eyes immediately drawn to Dee's vanity table. The chair had been knocked over and everything was on the floor. He crossed the room and sank to his knees, his shaking hands picking up the music box. The lid had a large crack running across the top, the ballerina had broken off and one of the corners was chipped.

"Oh…" Ash couldn't breathe. Holding that ruined memento in his hands forced him to face up to what his heart already knew was true. Dee was gone. He clutched that music box to his chest and let out a wordless scream of pure anguish.

That was how Mad and Noir found him not long after, knelt on the floor, wracked with grief and holding on to the broken box like a lifeline. Mad fixed the door with his magic and Noir made up a convincing cover story to explain all the noise when the police arrived, having been called by the neighbours. Ash was completely unresponsive but he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, then Mad opened a direct gate back to Wonderland for them.

They all met back up at Chalk Castle. Joker and Bill were deep in denial and insisted on going out to resume their search for Dee. Sakuto went with them, more to keep an eye on them than because he held any real hope they'd find their friend alive.

Ash sunk down against the nearest wall, radiating an aura of utter devastation. Someone called for Irena but even she wasn't able to break her nephew out of his nearly catatonic state. In the end she simply sat down on the floor next to him and Mad did the same on his other side. No one said a word, they knew anything they said would sound hollow right now.

Noir and Opera rejoined them, having gone to check on the distortions. They confirmed that every single one had disappeared. It was a lot later when Bill and Joker finally came back, their lack of success written on both their faces. Sakuto had tea and food brought to the room but in their collective bereavement, no one had much of an appetite.

Outside the castle, they could hear the sound of the townspeople celebrating the stabilisation of Wonderland. The citizens had no idea what their survival had cost, that Dee had made the ultimate sacrifice for them. For the people in the reception room, instead of the world being saved, it felt like their world had truly ended.

* * *

Ash opened his eyes in a glade, he didn't remember falling asleep here so he tried to search his memory of what he was doing before he dropped off. That was when he recalled the awful events of the day before. All of Dee's friends had stayed in that one room, each dealing with their grief in a different way. Some like Mad, weeping unashamedly. Some like Sakuto, concentrating on looking after others in fear that if they stopped, they'd drown in their sorrow. Finally, some like Ash, who had seemingly shut down and stopped functioning.

The Mouse had only fallen asleep when his body gave out in complete exhaustion. As he looked around the glen, he spotted something. Ash approached the largest tree and took the long flower braid in his hand and examined it.

"Dee was here, wasn't she?" He whispered aloud. He remembered Dee telling Opera and him about her recurring dreams and how she'd used every flower in the clearing to make the longest flower band before decorating a tree with it. There was a fluttering of wings and the lory landed on a branch in front of Ash's face.

"I cared about her too, you know." The warrior blinked as the little bird started to speak to him. "The time I spent with Dee in my glade was so much fun. She had such an infectious personality that you couldn't help but be drawn to her." The lory fluttered off the branch, and in a flash of light, she turned into her human form.

"If only your ancestors had owned up to what happened 150 years ago, maybe they could have come up with a different way to replenish my power given that amount of time. Even in the present I held out some hope that you and your friends would stumble across something so I didn't have to make that terrible choice. Still, I had decided not to absorb Dee's life, but she decided differently and forced her will on to me." As Wonderland spoke, Ash had tears rolling down his face, he knew full well that would have been the option Dee picked. She would have no problems with laying down her life to help others.

"Ash, I summoned you here for a reason. I wanted to fulfil Dee's last wish. She asked me to tell you that she had no regrets." Wonderland watched as the warrior shook his head and turned away from her, not wanting to hear it. It was another painful acknowledgement of what he'd just lost. As the woman's eyes followed him sadly, she saw something shimmering in the grass. "What in the world?" Ash was closer so he could make out the shape more easily.

"Is that… Dee?" He threw himself to his knees, reaching out a hesitant hand but it passed through Dee's sleeping form like she was a hologram. Wonderland came alongside him and held out her arm, power collecting around her palm to examine the apparition.

"This is a miracle…" Wonderland whispered in amazement, a smile breaking across her face before looking at Ash. "Come find my glade, it's in the centre of the realm. She'll be there, I promise you!" The deity waved her hand at the Mouse and everything went black.

Ash woke up with a start, he looked around in confusion before realising he was still in the reception room at Chalk Castle. Remembering his dream, he turned and shook Mad by the shoulder frantically.

"Mad! Wake up! Come on! We need to go!" The warrior's voice was loud, waking up the others in the room.

"What's with the wakeup call? …Did you have that strange dream too?" Bill's face was long and the dark circles under his eyes indicated his sleep had been fitful. "A woman in feathery robes appeared in mine… and told me Dee's last words." A quick look at the faces of everyone else confirmed it, they'd all had the same dream.

"Yes, but Dee actually appeared in mine! Her form wasn't corporeal, like she was halfway between reality and dreams but we saw her! The woman in feathers told me to find her glade, she told me Dee would be there!" Ash had stood up, pulling Mad with him. Without waiting for anyone else, the Mouse dragged the confused magician out with him.

Before long, they came to roughly the centre of Wonderland. Mad looked at the large thicket and raised his hand to his chin in thought.

"I've always sensed powerful magic around this place. I've never investigated it because sometimes it's best to leave these things alone, lest you break something you shouldn't." As the hatter spoke, Ash walked around it, feeling the outer edges in much the same way Dee had before. Once he had completed his circuit, they were joined by the others from the castle.

"There's got to be a way in…" Ash muttered before turning to his best friend. "Mad, cast a dispel charm and see what happens." Mad nodded, waving his cane and a couple of trees in the thicket disappeared to reveal the hidden trails. Ash ran into the glade and looked to the grass clearing… and prayed he wasn't still dreaming.

Lying in the centre, seemingly asleep, was Dee. Her body appeared to be solid, in fact she looked exactly like she did when in the other world, her hair shorter and reddish brown again. All of them poured in to the glen and knelt down in a circle around her, frightened to even take a breath in case she disappeared again.

As if sensing their presence, Dee began to stir and opened her dark brown eyes, she sat up slowly, looking groggy with a confused expression on her face.

"What am I doing here? Why are all of you looking at me like that?" Dee asked, a drowsy edge to her voice. Those words confirmed for them that she was really there. Everyone suddenly piled in on top of her. She could hear some were crying, some were scolding her for doing such a thing, some were even apologising for not working things out earlier. It was hard to breathe underneath ten thrilled people so Dee managed to squeak out.

"Get off me before someone gets hurt, please." Everyone reluctantly drew back and the woman breathed a sigh of relief. "But what happened? I assume Wonderland is fixed now, but if so, then why am I still here? I thought that was the trade off, my life for restoring Wonderland's power?" Dee queried in bewilderment, there was a flash of light and Wonderland herself appeared before them.

"I think I can answer that." The beautiful woman held out her hand and pulled Dee to her feet. While the rest followed suit, Dee noticed that Wonderland had the flower braid wrapped around her waist, like a sash. "It looks like instead of your life energy, I absorbed the magic from your Awakening Crystal. It's always been said that a 'Heart' created by a woman from the other world is more powerful than anything else. With the supernatural forces it contained you were able to save both of us and Wonderland too."

"That's right. At the end I was holding on to you, forcing you to take my life when my 'Heart' appeared right above us for some reason." Dee nodded before she clutched a hand to her chest with a gasp, turning in a panic to Opera. "My 'Heart'! Is it still there?!" The Green Witch walked forward and lent down to study her chest in interest.

"It's still there, still crimson, but now it's very nearly empty. I guess that's how much magic it took to replenish Wonderland's stores. Don't worry, in certain circumstances, it can be refilled." The witch gave her a reassuring smile and Dee sighed in relief.

"Dee, for achieving what I thought to be impossible, I have a very special gift for you." Wonderland approached the woman, bending down slightly to kiss her on the forehead. "Consider yourself an inhabitant of my realm. The rules of only being able to travel between the worlds in your sleep no longer apply to you." Dee's eyes widened in surprise before she pounced on the woman and gave her a hard squeeze before exclaiming in delight.

"Thank you so much, Lory!" Dee blinked as if realising something. "Actually, that's not your name, is it? But can I keep calling you that? Wonderland as a name for a person doesn't seem right." Lory gave her a gentle smile and nodded.

"Of course you can, in fact, you can all consider my name to be Lory from this moment on." The deity released Dee and turned to the others. "As for the rest of you, I hope you'll address the mistakes of the past. We now know that life energy isn't the only thing that can replenish my magic, figuring out a way for Wonderland to exist without the sacrifice of people from the other world shouldn't be too hard if we all try." Ruber gave an emphatic nod and Sakuto bowed deeply before straightening up.

"Agreed, Lady Lory. Trading lives is always unacceptable. We must use this peaceful time to come up with a sustainable solution. Hopefully we'll have one long before your power wains again. You have my word that we'll find it." Once the White Prince had made his solemn promise, Noir stepped forward.

"I already have one or two ideas I'll be looking to pursue, probably in concert with Opera. If we ever have need of you to test our theories, would we be able to find you here?" The Cat was always the practical one, coming up with plans on how to move forward towards his goals.

"Of course, this is my glade and you are all welcome to visit it whenever you like." Lory answered with a warm smile. "And with that, I bid you all farewell. Dee, I truly hope to see you soon." With another flash, the beautiful woman disappeared leaving the group behind. After a moment, Joker spoke up.

"So, Dee, what was that I just heard Opera say about your 'Heart' being crimson?" Joker was grinning at her almost maliciously. Dee felt a blush creeping up her cheeks as all eyes turned to her.

"Ah, yeah… that's something that kinda happened recently." Dee managed to get that sentence out in a small voice as she stole an involuntary glance at Ash, who appeared to be blushing too.

Most of their friends were all smirking and snickering at them, Cardia's expression was a little more complicated. She even heard Irena mutter a 'Finally' under her breath. Suddenly Noir drew two magic circles with his hand, one under Dee and the other under Ash.

"Santorina's not too far from here. You two go on ahead and we'll catch up with you." Noir's grin was reminiscent of the face scarf he used to wear when he was the Cheshire Cat. He muttered his incantation before continuing in a teasing voice. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to walk very slowly." Dee buried her beetroot coloured face in her hands as the circle beneath her flashed with a familiar white light.

When she lowered her hands a moment later, she found herself in Ash's place in Santorina. The pair of them just looked at each other for a beat or two, their faces still quite red.

"I'm not sure I'm ever going to be allowed to live that down." Normally Dee was pretty hard to embarrass, perhaps it was different this time because real feelings were involved. She shook her head slightly before she continued. "Well that wasn't how I planned on you finding out but it looks like I finally have an answer for you." Ash closed the space between them and wrapped Dee up in an embrace.

"I… I thought I'd never get to see you again." His voice trembled and his arms were shaking with pure emotion as he held her. "If I'd lost you, another person I loved, I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to carry on. I kept praying, saying that I'd never ask for a single thing again for the rest of my life, if only I could have you back. I love you." Dee squeezed him tightly before pulling back just enough so she could look him in the eyes.

"When I told Lory I had no regrets, that was a lie. I had one. That I'd never told you that I loved you too." Dee's sincerity showed in her tone and Ash's eyes filled with tears of happiness and relief. He ran a hand up Dee's spine to rest on the back of her neck as he pulled her into a kiss, promising without words that he'd never let her go again.

* * *

A few weeks later, Dee woke up slowly. _'So warm.'_ She thought as she groggily opened her eyes and saw Ash's face in front of hers. Now her trips to Wonderland weren't governed by the rules of the other world, she tended to spend her nights with Ash at his place in Santorina. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her stained glass jewellery box on the chest of drawers, all she had to do now was hold it and she'd be back in her bedroom in her apartment whatever time of day it was, just like the Wonderland natives.

Dee smiled wryly to herself as she began the daily battle of getting out of the Mouse's strong grip, it was often faster than trying to wake him up to let her go. However, Ash must have been sleeping a little more lightly than usual that morning as he opened his eyes marginally.

"Running?" He asked in a sleepy slurred tone, when Dee shook her head, he murmured. "Good…" Before pulling her closer and closing his eyes again. The woman gave a startled squeak as she pressed against Ash's chest with her hands.

"No! I need to get up, today's the unveiling of the statue and I promised Irena I'd help out with the food! Come on, let me go already!" Dee felt Ash's grip loosen just enough and she took her chance to break free with a sigh of relief.

Fifteen minutes later Dee pushed through the back door of Irena's place that led into her kitchen. The older woman was already there, up to her elbows in bread as she made a seemingly never ending supply of sandwiches.

"Morning Dee! How are you and Ash this morning?" The woman greeted Dee who picked up the spare apron off the hook by the door and pulled it on.

"Fine, I wasn't held captive overly long this morning so I can't complain. He's probably gone back to sleep knowing him. Right, now to make cake!" Dee announced as she grabbed a large mixing bowl to get started. "I'm glad all the countries decided to make a statue in honour of the original Alice, even if it took a while to decide where to put it." The younger woman put all the dry ingredients in first.

"Yes, every nation wanted to be the one to host it. I honestly thought they were going to have to do a separate statue each." Irena stacked a load of sandwiches on to a plate and put it aside so she could get started on some different ones. "Putting it in the centre of Wonderland near the glade seems to be the best place, even if most of the citizens don't know about Lory and the significance of that area."

The national monarchs had told the people of Wonderland about the original appearance of the distortions and how Alice's accidental death had saved the realm without mentioning that there was a physical entity that was the personification of their world. They had also told everyone that Dee was behind the stabilisation this time around without having to lose her life, making her somewhat of a celebrity now.

"Hello ladies! I thought I'd pop in and lend a hand!" Bill's bright and happy voice rang out as he walked in with a basket under his arm. The Lizard village had also offered to contribute some food to the unveiling ceremony. Dee looked up at him with a bright smile as she put her cake tin into Irena's oven.

"Hi there! Thank you for the offer, I think we've got the making covered but we might need your muscles to carry everything." Dee told him as she went and washed her hands again. "I can't wait to see the statue, are you nervous about everyone seeing your work?"

"No chance! I'm so excited I can barely stand it!" Bill replied with a grin, he was never really one for nerves. His face dropped into a half serious pout. "Still not happy that you won't let me do a statue of you too."

"Be thankful I allowed you to mention me on the plaque. There was nothing selfless about what I tried to do, if anything it was selfish of me." Dee had cleaned out the mixing bowl and was making the batter for a load of cupcakes, tipping a small bowl of chopped dried fruit into the mix. "It's bad enough I can't walk anywhere at the moment without people mobbing me, I really hope things will calm down soon."

"It will, everyone was so scared with the distortions that their relief and gratitude is very powerful right now." Irena finally finished with the sandwiches and started packing them in a basket. Dee had just put two cupcake trays into the oven with her cake. "If it does get too much for you, you can always take a break in the other world for a bit."

"True, that is a possibility." Dee agreed as she stood back up, leaning with her back against the kitchen counter when Ash walked in through the backdoor with a yawn. "Sleeping beauty awakens! Stand right there and don't touch anything, you adorable liability." Ash pouted at his girlfriend but did as he was told, he had no right to argue with her on this topic anymore.

Later that morning the four of them were where the ceremony was to be held, the statue was covered with a white cloth, ready for the unveiling. Bill and Ash had been immediately recruited to help a last minute set up disaster with the stage. Dee was just unpacking the cupcakes she'd baked when her world went black as someone stuck their hands over her eyes from behind.

"Guess who?" The excited voice coming from behind Dee belonged to one person and one person only.

"Hello, Mad. Nice to hear you're in high spirits as usual." Dee answered and the hands were taken away and the hatter moved to stand besides her.

"How did you guess it was me?" Mad queried with a small pout that lasted only a few moments before he pulled Dee into a hug. "It's good to see you, Opera and Noir are around here somewhere too." The three magicians had been collaborating on researching a sustainable way to refresh Lory's magic and so Dee hadn't seen them as much as she'd like. She was just about to ask how it was going when someone else called her name.

"Hello there, Joker! You're looking exceptionally happy today, did something happen?" Mad greeted Joker as he ran over to the pair of them with a wide smile on his face.

"You could say that. The Red Queen just spoke to me and offered to allow me to change my name!" His crimson eyes twinkled in happiness as Mad and Dee's jaws dropped in shock. "But I turned her down, Joker is my name, and more importantly, it's what my friends call me. Changing it wouldn't make the hard times I suffered growing up disappear and I wouldn't want it to. My past is what made me who I am today."

Dee beamed at Joker from ear to ear before pouncing him in a hug, he'd gone from a distant antisocial cynic to a man who had finally learned that not everyone was out to hurt him. The loyal, caring and strong personality he'd always had was now on the surface for everyone to see. Joker squeezed Dee back, about to let go when two small people clamped on to their legs and the four of them fell into the grass.

"Humpty, Dumpty! Come on, let go of my legs!" Dee had managed to twist so she didn't land on either of the twins. The blonde boys obediently let go of the pair of them. As Dee was getting back up, someone offered a helping hand. She looked up and saw Sakuto smiling down at her so she took his hand and he pulled her up. "Thank you. How's the stage now?"

Dee checked to make sure the grass hadn't left any stains on her clothes. Joker nodded at the prince before deciding to run around with the kids for a bit to burn off some of their excess energy.

"It's all sorted now. Ash held the stage up while Bill repaired the broken strut. It doesn't have to last forever, just long enough for my speech and the unveiling." The White Prince had been given the honour of introducing the statue, Noir didn't like giving speeches that often and Ruber felt she shouldn't be the one to do it considering the way she'd treated people from the other world before.

"Good! I can't wait for your speech, you are always so eloquent, I'm sure you'll do Alice justice." Dee complimented Sakuto who smiled but he did blush a little at the praise. Cardia spotted them and jogged over to them.

"Glad I caught you two! Good call to hold the ceremony in a wide open space like this. I've heard there's going to be a massive turnout." The card soldier smiled at them both. "I'd love to stay and chat but I'm on the clock with guarding the Queen but I'll try and catch you a bit later!" Dee waved to him as he turned around and went to rejoin Ruber, before turning to the table with a small worried sigh.

"If it's gonna be that busy maybe I should have made some more cakes?" Dee fretted for a moment before Sakuto put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, worst comes to it we can get Mad and Opera to magically create some more." The White Prince could see more and more people were arriving. "I need to go and get ready to open the ceremony so I'll see you after that." As Dee watched Sakuto disappear into the crowds, someone hugged her from behind.

"Welcome back. Did you enjoy getting the chance to show off how strong you are?" Dee asked Ash, getting an amused chuckle from him as he placed a kiss behind her ear.

"It was more fun watching Bill fix the broken beam with nothing but his knife, a plank and some cloth. It's not pretty but it'll hold." Ash replied as he gave Dee a squeeze. They spotted Sakuto standing by the stage, checking his pocket watch before climbing the stairs and standing at the lectern. The covered statue was just behind the wooden platform.

"If I might have your attention?" Sakuto spoke in a loud and clear voice, the gathered crowd of people quietened down and turned to face the stage. "Thank you all for coming today to honour someone who should have received this recognition a long time ago. The fact she didn't realise her death would save our world should not detract from the fact that she paid the price for our continued existence." One of the first things Sakuto and the other monarchs did after the stabilisation was to arrange town meetings where Tsukito's letter was read out to show the citizens Alice's tragic story.

"Our ancestors were wrong to hide the truth of what happened. They were wrong to blame an innocent girl for the problems they were experiencing and they were wrong to turn her name into a curse word for someone from the other world. As my forefather's confession read, she deserved better from us… And so, we shall do far better for her, this statue is just the beginning. I hope you will all join me in making sure that Alice becomes the most celebrated name in our history!" The crowd exploded into applause at the heartfelt sentiment in Sakuto's words. After a few moments, the prince raised his hand to quiet them once more.

"And now for the unveiling of this tributary statue. It seems only right to me and the other leaders of Wonderland that the second person to save our world from the brink of oblivion should be the one to perform this honour. Please come up to the stage, Dee." Sakuto's eyes creased in mirth as he held on to his laughter at seeing the demon glare Dee threw at him. However, realising she couldn't get out of this, she reluctantly climbed the stage and took a hold of the velvet rope. "Thank you, Dee. If you would please do us this great service?"

Dee nodded and gave the rope a hard tug, the cover fell to reveal a painted wooden statue of Alice sitting at a table enjoying tea and cakes. The little details like her face, her hands and even the pattern on the tablecloth had been painstakingly recreated from the memory of King Tsukito. That and the colours made the statue so life like it looked like the girl was about to finish her cup and ask for another. The crowds applauded and cheered once more before Sakuto declared the celebration open.

The first thing that Dee did when she got down from the stage was to look for Bill, she found him already digging into a slice of the cake that she'd baked that morning. She ran up to him with an astounded look on her face.

"That statue, Bill, it's amazing. That must have taken you forever to carve then paint it too." Dee complimented him with sincerity and the carpenter grinned at her in delight.

"Thank you! It was a labour of love, that's for sure. I wanted to make sure it was as precise as possible; I must have read the beginning of the old White King's letter a million times." The pair of them laughed together before the Lizard suddenly said. "Oh! I almost forgot! I've been meaning to give you this back." He reached into his basket and pulled out a music box, handing it over to Dee.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you managed to fix this, I thought it was beyond help!" She exclaimed as she looked it over, checking all the previously damaged areas on the outside before lifting the catch and opening it. "Thank you so much, Bill! You're a miracle worker!"

"I had to replace the ballerina so that's different but I was able to fill in the crack and the chip with wood putty. The rest was just sanding it down to level it and then using varnishing to blend the old and new parts together." Bill explained, smiling at seeing Dee so over the moon. She put the music box back down and gave him a hard squeeze in thanks.

"Try not to break it again, or I'm gonna be repairing repairs before long." Dee laughed with a nod, she was about to reply when she was pounced on with a flying hug from an overexcited Opera.

"There you are! How are you doing? Let me get a look at you!" The Green Witch let Dee go but gripped her shoulders at arm's length so she could check her over, before breaking into a grin. "Looks like your 'Heart' is filling back up nicely, I'm sure you and Ash are having *lots* of fun so it should be full again soon." Dee blushed but she knew responding to Opera's teasing was the fast route to even more teasing so instead she changed the subject slightly.

"How's the research going?" As she asked that question, Noir came over to join the three of them and she smiled at the Cat brightly, accepting the one armed hug he gave her.

"Good so far, we're working on a way where we might be able to transfer magic to Lory on an ongoing basis, like blood donations in the other world." Noir had a smile on his face, he loved working on a challenge, especially when things were going in the right direction.

"We're planning on doing an experiment soon to see whether the magic has to come from someone like you, Dee, or whether we can use the power inside the 'Heart' of a woman from Wonderland. Irena has volunteered for that when it comes to it." Opera added, drawing a surprised gasp from Dee.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to do any sort of live testing until we have a sure-fire way to end the experiment in the event something unexpected happens." Noir reassured her and the younger woman breathed a sigh of relief, she was quite protective of Irena.

After chatting a little longer, Dee decided to try and find Ash. As she looked around, she spotted him at the edge of the celebration, leaning with his back against a tree and staring at Alice's statue with a pensive expression. Dee walked over, drawing a smile from him when he spotted her.

When Dee reached the warrior, she was just about to ask him what he was thinking about when Ash ambushed her with a kiss. Initially surprised, she melted against her boyfriend as she accepted his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck while he put his low around her hips. When it broke, she drew her face away slightly with a small smile.

"What was that in aid of?" Dee enquired with an amused look on her face. Usually neither of them were ones for public displays of affection so she hadn't been expecting that kiss. Ash just gave her a cheeky, boyish grin.

"I couldn't resist. I'd just been looking at Alice thinking that she must have left some people behind who mourned her and wondered what had happened. Then I started thinking how easily that could have been me mourning you. I was just starting to get lost in those bad thoughts when you appeared and chased them all away. You are like the stars on a dark night, lighting up my world." Ash explained, making Dee blush a little at his words.

"Well if I'm the stars, then you are the Sun for all the warmth you've shown me since the first day we met. You've made it so I can finally trust love and made me start to believe that I truly deserve to be this happy." Dee pressed a quick peck to Ash's lips, turning her eyes to Alice's statue as she relaxed in the safe arms of the man she loved. A smile coming to her face at spotting a lory perching on Alice's shoulder.

FIN


End file.
